Hazard Pay
by Tiffsababe
Summary: What is life like for another woman who works for Rangeman? What are her pitfall and obstacles? And most of all... who does she fall in love with? Life will never be the same for this Rangeman family.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:I do not own nor do I profit from the works of JE. As you will be able to tell, Haz, is all mine.**

 **Chapter 1:**

The mere fact I was alive, was a miracle in itself. What was left of my new car was burning at the bottom of the half demolished bridge, leaving me dangling onto the edge like a sad little monkey. A sad, bleeding, pissed off, but tired, little monkey. This little monkey's name is Becca, but you can call me Haz. Haz is short for Hazard, because according to my friends that's exactly what I was. I fell over non existant things, I crashed perfectly good cars, I accidentally set fire to five star restaurants and I accidentally broke my ex-boyfriend's leg. Twice. After we broke up. Anyway, so... here I am hanging onto a few rusty pieces of rebar to prevent myself from plummeting a good sixty feet to my possible yet probable serious injury or death. How did I get into this situation, you ask. Well it all started a year ago...

After catching a guy peeping into my third story apartment window, I threw on a half length robe over my over sized sleep shirt and hit the pavement running. After losing sight of the perp, I screamed in frustration as I turned the corner and found my baby violated. Now, I was sitting on the curb watching the tow truck haul what was left of my car away. I had left it parked overnight outside my apartment and before I knew it, there was nothing but a frame, two axles and four cinder blocks holding it in place where my entire car should have been.

When I asked the cop about the report number, he scoffed at me and under his breath muttered that they had to change the numbering system for reports because of my friends and I. One look at the report number and any cop in the city could tell if we were involved or not. Anyway... I was told to call my insurance company and give them the report number the cop gave me. Depending on the coverage I had, they would send me a check for the value of the car. Thankfully, I had just upped my coverage a few months prior, so I was set in that department. As to whether I still had transportation... not exactly. First there was my friends, who would never let me live this down or I could walk or take the city bus. And I wasn't going to ride the city bus. Lets's face it, nobody rode the city bus unless you needed a warm dry place to catch some sleep. Glancing down at my feet sighing, I didn't exactly exercise voluntarily in any way, so why start now?

So, I guess I should call one of my friends to come get me so I can make it into work. Hmm? Who's the lucky winner? Without looking, I flipped through my little address book without looking and dropped my finger to find the lucky person. I had stopped in the R section, glancing at the name I had selected, I rolled my eyes then grimmacing. This is going to be just peachy. FYI: You should be sensing some sarcasam with that last comment. The man I had selected, was a giant pain in my ass and never let me forget it. My fingers flew over the dialpad before I waited for the ring. " 'ello?" Yeah, elquent isn't he?

"Hey, it's me. Can you pick me up for work?" I asked, trying not to pick at the horrible patch job I had done to repair the wall next to the phone.

""I guess." He yawned, "Wha' time is it?"

"0313. I'll tell you about my fantastic night when you come and get me." He grunted like he was agreeing with me while trying to fall back asleep. "Can we stop and pickup coffee and donuts? I'll pay for both of us."

"M'kay. I'll be there at 0440. Be ready." I heard dial tone after that. Guess I should be thankful I got as much as I did out of him. He partied too hard last night and I know he'll be a bear in the morning. Oh, well. He should learn not to party on a worknight. Dumbass. I settled back into bed, setting my alarm for 0415. Plenty of time to get ready, and fell fast asleep.

I hopped into the truck, thankful my friend had been awake enough to process the conversation from last night in his mind. "Thanks for getting me. Some asshole stripped my car. Didn't find it until some jerk was peeping in on me." A low grunt came fromt he drivers seat and I tried not to smile, it didn't happen. I held out a twenty and smiled at him, "I buy, you fly?" He grunted again and I rolled my eyes. GOD! Men could be such assholes.

We pulled back onto the road after he picked up the order from the bakery I called in a few minutes before. Thankfully, the girls there knew us well and always had time to throw eight dozen into boxes, along with a huge bladder bag full of steaming hot, proprietary blend coffee. I inhaled and smiled at the smell of fat, sugar and coffee. Ahh... nothing like those three for breakfast in the morning. It starts a day off just right.

We pulled into the underground garage parking in the assigned spot my friend had, before I exited carrying four of the boxes of donuts. A few seconds later, more friends appeared and unloaded not only me, but the rest of the boxes and the bladder of coffee for me. I love having hungry friends. We walked up the stairs and headed for the breakroom to chow down. Unfortunately, nobody informed Ranger that I was treating the office to fat, sugar and empty calories. I stood there under his piercing gaze, making me conscious of the fact I had a bead of sweat rolling down the center of my back. I fought the urge to shift so the bead of sweat stopped, but not wanting to draw more attention to myself, I resisted.

"Who?" He demanded, before my, now not so loved, friends pointed to me and ratted me out in the matter of seconds. "Office, now." I wordlessly followed him to his office, glaring at all my friends before flipping off my best friend who didn't even try to defend me. Asshole. Yeah, I know. It's my favorite word these days.

He slammed his office door shut and I mentally cringed. Shit! "What did I say last time, Haz?" He demanded in a pissy tone.

"Not to?" I stated more as a question than an answer. So I had a hard time remembering what he said to me last time I brought in donuts. For the record I was distracted by the fact there was fat and sugar calling my name in the breakroom. He frowned and stormed up to me pounding his fist onto the door for good measure. "I told you not to forget!" He was rolling full steam ahead now. I decided to let him work himself into a tizzy for a while before placating him.

"I'm sorry, Sir!" I stated loudly and inwardly smiled. Sometimes it was too easy. I'd just let him yell and then take the punishment. For some reason, I never was afraid that I'd get fired. Knowing I was spacing out, Ranger glared at me and I began to get nervous, knowing he could be very vindictive when he felt the need. I hoped and prayed he wasn't in one of those moods.

"It won't happen without permission again."

"Yes, Sir."

He stepped into my personal space, our faces milimeters apart. His eyes were alight with fire as he lit into me like nobodys business. After a good ten minutes, I slunk out of the office after being dismissed. I ignored several attempts at appologising from my friends who ratted me out. They'd get theirs. Oh yeah, I'd make them pay good. I flopped down into my chair at my cubicle and pouted. Man, why is it I'm always the one getting into trouble with the boss anymore? Suddenly, two double chocolate glazed donuts were held before my frowning face along with a steaming cup of coffee with extra cream and sugar. Do I forgive him and take the peace offering or do I pout some more? My stomach growled loudly before I inhaled both donuts in a matter of bites and drained the coffee in fifteen seconds flat.

"Am I forgiven?" Ram asked kissing my cheek,before sitting his huge self onto my lap. I groaned under the weight and tried unsuccessfully to shove him off.

"Ge' owf!" I wheezed, unable to breathe. He leaned forward allowing air into my chest, but not getting up. I pinched his ass and he grinned at the contact. "Asshole, get the hell off me." I grabbed a pencil and poked him in his right ass cheek, making him shoot up off of my lap, rubbing where I had dented the near perfect bun.

"Watch it or I'm going to glue your dick to your ass." I laughed knowing that would never happen.

"Not before I do it to you." I warned, he paled. I glared at him, "What's with ratting me out? Wha'd I do to you?"

"Sorry. I can't get into trouble for another month, remember? I'm still on disciplinary probation after I got in trouble for messing with the TV's in the conference rooms. How was I to know that Mrs. Ultra Conservative Republican Senator was the next client on the list for consultation. I have 28 days left until I have my freedom back. There's no way I'm jeopardizing that for anything." He admitted, looking a little ratteled from that last incident.

"Pussy." I baited him waiting for him to call me an Old Hag, but it never came. Something must be wrong, he seemed a little spooked and nervous about something. "You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm okay." He seemed to want to change the subject. "You feel up to going out later?" I shrugged, not sure I really wanted to or not. "I know this really great place, good pizza, great atmosphere. What do you say?" He waggled his eyebrows and made me laugh, like it or not.

"Fine. But let me change at your place before we go. I hate going out in my work clothes."

"Alright." He jumped up, fist pumping, before glancing around sheepishly and sitting back down in his chair in the cubicle next to mine.

"Meeting in five." I warned him as I chucked my empty paper cup over the cubicle wall and into the trashcan in his cubicle.

"Guess what?" I rolled my eyes and said nothing, hoping he'd continue. "I got the shipment in late last night. It took me until two to get them all catalogued, tagged and put away." So that's why he was grumpy this morning when he picked me up.

"So no date with Brittany last night?" I asked, trying not to sound like I was being pissy. I failed. He shook his head and looked at me over the wall. "I broke it off with her almost a year ago. You know that." He sighed and started rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I haven't dated a chick in over eleven months." He swiveled his head towards the conference room and sighed. "We better go. We got less than 2 left."

We sauntered over to the conference room and entered to a chorus of chuckles. "Fuck you all and the horses you rode in on." I snapped. I flopped down into my normal seat three over from Ranger's right side, propped my feet up on the table and began to clean under my fingernails with my boot knife. After a good ninety seconds, Tank walked in to find me sitting at the table, hands folded and looking like such a school girl. He smiled down at me and patted me on the shoulder. Honestly, we had this little thing going between us. I pretended to be a good little angel while he pretended as if I never got into trouble and in return I would help take care of his cats when he went on vacations. He hasn't had one in a looooong time and to tell the truth, he needed one bad. It was a wonderful arrangement, besides he was like a very protective older brother to me. He even beat my own brother to pieces for being a dick to me. Notice, I'm wiping an immaginary tear away from my eye. God love him.

Ranger walked in surveying the group before him and maintained a blank face even though I was sure he had stared at me a milisecond longer than anyone else. "Report!"

Tank began the whole rundown of what happened ovenight. "2330 over-due shipment came in. Catalogued, tagged and put away by 0230. 0314 alarm at Garrets Jewelry. Break-in, perps apprehended while exiting building. TPD responded, arrived 0329, took perps into custody, we left scene 0331. 0331 on, no reports or incidents as of 0600." He finished before sipping his cup of coffee. Coffee, I noticed, I had brought in.

"Schedule for the day?" Ranger asked, having no trouble trying to maintain his blank face.

"Same as yesterday. Same partners, same hours."

"Acceptable." He turned to the men surrounding the table. "It has come to my attention that certain persons who shall remain nameless, have repeatedly brought contraband into the building without prior knowledge or permission from managment. It must be stated again, for all those employed here, contraband is just that, contraband. It must be okayed or it will be confiscated."

Nobody moved, nobody even breathed. We waited out the stare down from the bossman. As soon as it started, it ended with him getting up and walking out. A deep "Dismissed" was uttered from Tank. It was then that I walked over and kissed his cheek. "You really need a vacation. You're wearing yourself too thin." I rubbed his bald head and hugged him gently before walking out with the other guys coughing and muttering about being a suckup under their breaths. Assholes.


	2. Chapter 2

**A?N:I do not own nor do I profit from the work of JE.**

 **Chapter 2:**

Watching a huge stack of searches being dumped onto my desk by the company bookworm, Rodriguez, was disheartening. He just smiled at me like it was the greatest thing to get more work from him. Secretly, I thought he might have a crush on me, but hey, that's just me. Anyway, Rodriguez walks away and I groan, grabbing several more files at the same time. I type in the info I want and concurrently run four different searches on four different computers for the info I need. Gee, how did I get so lucky to have that many computers? Well, let's just say, two are from my own home and one is a frankencomputer that the computer genius, Hector, put together for me. This is all an experiment in efficiency. I'm trying to prove to Ranger that having more than one computer at your disposal makes for a faster turn around for the searches. Quicker searches equals less time required at the office, which equals less overtime, which equals less money paid out in overtime, which equals a greater increase in profit. Insert wide grin here. More profits in the end make for happy investors, does it not?

Ranger still isn't convinced, that's why this little experiment went from one week to six months. Yay me. Not. So, Ram finished up our searches for the day and we still have acouple of hours left to kill. FTA's here we come. I glance over the three different choices we have. "What'll it be today? Hmm... armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon or embezzlement?"

"What's the armed robbery?" Ram asked eyes still trained on the road as we're driving around Trenton.

"Charlie Gomez, held up the Cluck in a Bucket just before they opened. Dumbass didn't get anything but fifty dollars in mostly change."

"Pass, get him tomorrow."

"Um, let's see. Embezzlement... George Lot worked as an accountant for a law firm in town. He swindled over a half a million."

"Pass." He fidgited, "I need someone that I can either laugh at or fight with."

"Fine. Assault with a deadly weapon it is. Head down to Gerald's Market." He nodded and flipped a u turn.

Gerald's used to be Sal's meat market before Sal went to the big meat market in the sky when Jimmy Alpha shot him about seven years ago. Since then the business was sold to Gerald Hart, who turned it into a meat market/fish market. I've been in there before, clean, nice, but a little too uptight for me.

"So what's the story?" Ram asked.

"Gerald Hart, 38. Was arrested after he got into a fight with a customer, apparently he struck her with a..." I know... dramatic pause. "A large, whole salmon."

"What?" He began to laugh, hysterically I might add. And to understand this whole situation, he's a huge big badass guy and to see him wiping tears from his eyes as he's laughing is extremely rare. I mean, it never happens rare.

We pulled up in front of the market and walked in, hands on our hips, ozzing with badass personas. I glanced at a scrawny kid about 18, "Hey, where's Gerald?"

He glanced at me and smiled before turning ghost white at the sight of Ram. He pointed to the 'employees only' door to the back dock and backed away slowly. I thanked him and we proceeded to head out to the back dock. There we found Gerald Hart accepting a new shipment of Scrod and Halibut. I glanced over, acessing the quality when Ram decides to open his mouth. "Mr. Hart. We're from your bail bonds company, we'd like to have a word with you." I'm sure he just dropped a load into his pants. Well, that makes it simple... I stand on the opposite side of Ram and away from the FTA.

"Uh, sure. Let's go into my office." He indicated the way and led us into a small cramped office near the back door. He shuffled some papers from the desk chair and offered it me, I shook my head. I couldn't sit even if I wanted to. It's against company rules. Besides, it's hard getting up to chase after an FTA if I'm comfortable. "How can I help you?" Hart asked, clearly shaken by our presence.

"You've missed you court date. We need to take you in to get rescheduled." I stated in a sweet tone with a smile.

He looked at me like I was an alien. "Are you kidding? I've got a business to run. I can't leave my lame-brained son in charge even for a few hours. He'll run me into the ground." Mr. Hart held his head in his hands, his fingers rubbing his bald head. "Is there any way you can come and get me on Sunday?" I glanced over at Ram and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hart. We have to take you in now." I reached for him and for a slim man, he had some impressive moves. He dodged not only my hands, but Ram's hands as well. By this time, Hart had run out of the office and into the store. A few patrons were at the meat and fish counters to witness the events about to transpire.

Hart reached into one of the display cases and pulled out a tray of nice looking New York Strip steaks. "I told you. Come back on Sunday." He began chucking them at us. Thankfully he's a bad shot and they go wide, landing on the floor with a 'plop'. He then streaks over to another display case in the fish area and I groan.

"Hart, we told you. We take you now. If you hurry, we can get you bonded back out in the matter of an hour. Vinnie can meet us there." I tried reasoning with him, but come on. How do you reason with someone who is currently throwing catfish nuggets at you? "Hart, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

"Screw you, Bitch!" He shouted garnering a few gasps from the holier than thou ladies here for their Friday fish.

"That's it! You're pissing me off!" I lunged for him and missed, as I went sliding past him and into a display case of lemons, sending them all over the floor. In retalliation, Ram lunges at Hart, only to come up empty handed. Hart, laughing like a hyena, drops a huge tub of muscles onto the floor just as we try to corner him. FYI: mussels can be extemely dangerous when you try to walk on them. They're slippery! Both my partner and I land on our back sides as a result of the muscles. To make things worse, Hart manages to dump over an entire tank filled to the brim with crabs. I run screaming from the store with Ram, who had Hart thrown over his shoulder. apparently, while I was busy dodging the wave of crustaceans, my partner grabbed Hart, cuffed him and headed for the door. Yeah, I'm observant. Not.

So, here we are, headed to TPD, covered in stinky seawater, fish scraps and who knows what else. God, it's times like these I feel like certain former company employee. "Get me the fuck out of these cuffs! I need to get back to my store." Hart shouted, trying to struggle in the cuffs.

"No way." I answered, glaring at him. "Do you know how hard it is to remove the smell of fish from your clothing?" I stopped and shook my head. "Of, course you do. Now shut the hell up, before I shut you up!" He settled down and sat in the back of the SUV quietly the rest of the trip.

Ram and I walked into TPD escorting Mr. Hart to the Desk Sergeant. "FTA, Gerald Hart." My partner stated with a straight face.

The cop took one look at him and then one look at me and began laughing. I tuned and glared at him. "Is there a problem?" I asked sweetly before looking at my partner for guidance.

"Yeah. Suddenly I feel the need for fish sticks tonight." He joked before handing over the body receipt. I removed our cuffs from Hart and handed him over to another officer who was chuckling himself.

Before I could open my mouth and let him have it, Hart began going on and on about how fish sticks were bad for you. They were made of rotton fish, fish bits and guts. I paled a little and followed Ram outside and away from the insanity. "Please take me home so I can shower and change into clean clothes." I begged laying my head onto his massive arm, looking for sympathy.

"Honey, I'll take you back to my place. You've got work clothes there." I nodded knowing we were going to be caught on camera covered in fish. Great! Not!

We pulled into the garage and I sighed in relief as there was no one in sight. We no more made it out of the truck before the stairwell door slammed open and a group of our friends came out laughing at the sight before them. "Here fishy, fishy, fishy!" One taunted holding his nose from the smell.

"Whew! What'd you do? Roll around in dead fish?" Another teased.

It wasn't until my partner began to growl and give them death stares that they backed off and walked away. "Thanks." I dragged him over to the elevator and watched him roll his eyes. "Hey, it's been a long day. I say we earned a little ride in the elevator. Don't you?" He sighed and patiently waited for the doors to open with me. We stepped in and rode it up to the fourth floor, leaving our fishy scent behind as we exited the elevator. I grinned, take that Bossman.

We walked into his apartment and I headed straight for the bathroom, stripping my clothes off as soon as the bathroom door shut. I had the shower running and was ready to step in when a big black hairy spider jumped off of the wall and ran towards me. I shrieked and threw open the door and made a run for it. One little problem. I ran right into the arms of Ram, who was trying see if I was okay. I looked up into his eyes and laid my head onto his naked chest in relief.

WAIT! NAKED CHEST? I glanced down and almost passed out. GOOD GOD, HE"S NAKED! Then I realised, I'm naked. I desperately tried to cover myself with my hands as I tried to explain why I made a run for it. "Uh, big spider... uh scared me... I hate 'em. Um, yeah." He chuckled and held a towel out for me to wrap up in. He tugged on a pair of cotton boxers, that oh good golly, hugged his ass like I'd like to at the moment. Shit! So...um... yeah, so he killed the big mean spider and I went back to trying to take a shower.

I no more than got in when a knock sounded at the door and I shouted, "Yeah?"

He poked his head in and asked, "We're kinda pressed for time. You think I could shave while you showered?"

"Um, okay. I guess." Shit! Here I was in the same bathroom with the man I just saw naked and now I'm naked and... Crap! Thank god the shower curtain is solid. I finished up and shut the water off, sticking my hand out I grabbed for the towel but couldn't find it. It wasn't until I stuck my head out to look for myself, that I found him standing a few feet away from the shower holding my towel, smirking.

"Looking for something?" He asked, I watched him teasingly wave the towel slightly. "Gotta come and get it." I sure I turned all different shades of red in embarassment. It was bad enough he saw me naked earlier but now it was deliberate. What was a girl to do?

I steeled myself against the embarrassment and kept telling myself, he was just a friend and he meant nothing in a sexual way to me. I stepped out fo the tub, dripping wet and I began to think naughty, naughty thoughts about things that my partner and I could be doing. Apparently I wasn't the only one. I glanced down to see that his boxers were tented quite nicely. After a few steps I grabbed for the towel but came up with nothing but air. "What the hell?"

He snickered and reached around to slap me on the ass. "Unh, uhn, unh!" He waved a finger in front of my face saying no,no, no. I frowned and began to get angry. He held the towel out of my reach as I jumped and grabbed for it several times. Finally I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed him. Yeah, I said it. I grabbed him, right where he was tenting his boxers a moment before. He groaned and dropped his hands allowing me to get to my towel. I wrapped it around me as he slowly opened his eyes and stared me down.

His normally light green eyes were dark and full of fiery passion, making me squirm. His normally calm demeanor dropped as something completely predatory took it's place. He rolled and cracked his neck, preparing himself. Realising I had created a monster, I began to back up away from him, out the door and into the other room. It wasn't until the backs of my knees came into contact with the bed that I began to worry. Shit! Ram smirked, "Going somewhere?"

"Uh..." My lengthy explanation was cut whort when his lips crashed into mine. In an instant I went from nervous and scared to completely turned on and loving it. Our lips fused with such passion I was almost giddy from it's effects. I always had feelings for him, more than what a partner should have, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be able to act upon them. He slid his tongue along my lower lip, asking for entrance, as I gasped with the feeling, his tongue slid in and tangled with mine. I almost passed out with the feeling, it was heavenly. I moaned and drew him tighter when I wrapped my arms around his neck. He tightened his grip onto my hips, pressing them into him, making me feel a large lump at my stomach height.

Our lips and tongues dueled for dominance until the desperate need for air forced us apart. We rested our foreheads together, breathing raggedly. I closed my eyes enjoying the feeling of being in his arms. It had been a long time, a very long time since that had happened for me. "What was that?" I asked before I could censor my mouth.

He jumped back, clearly shocked that he had been so open and forward with me. He began to stammer, "I..I'm... sorry. Uh.. I... shit... um didn't mean to... uh... offend you." He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, refusing to meet my eyes. Not wanting him to stop, I stepped forward and placed my hands onto his chest and looked up at him with a smile.

"I liked it." He froze and looked at me with shock. "I liked it." I smiled and tilted my head slightly raising up onto my tiptoes to lay my lips onto his once again. As they touched, I moaned, wrapped my hands around his neck and my legs around his waist. He groaned, wrapped his hands under my bare backside and slid his tongues against mine, his heady scent made me melt. Oh geez, he was hot!

He trailed little nips and kisses down my chin and onto my neck, only stopping at the juncture of my neck and shoulder. He growled and then fastened his lips there, sucking and biting, making me gasp in sheer pleasure. I raked my fingernails across his back making him harden even more under me. He began to whisper into my ear as he nipped and suckled my neck, "Becca. God, I've wanted for so long. You're so beautiful. So sexy." I laughed huskily and bit down on his shoulder roughly making him growl again.

"I've wanted you for longer." I admitted, grinding my center onto his rock hard member, only a thin layer of cotton separating us. "I want you." I placed kisses along his jawline, nipping at his adams apple gently. "Now!"

"Baby, I need a shower." He groaned and dropped his hands allowing me to drop onto the bed. I nodded and readjusted the towel to keep me covered. He noticed what I was doing and tilted my face so he could look into my eyes. "Don't do that. Don't shut down on me. You deserve to be treated like a queen. Not taken while I'm covered in fish crap." I smiled and nodded. "Let me take you out to dinner and romance you. Please?" He begged with puppydog eyes. How was I to say no to that?

"Alright. Get a shower and we'll go to dinner. Hurry up though, I'm hungry." I smiled and patted him on the ass as he walked away to the bathroom. I raced into his closet and grabbed a change of clothing from my bag I stored there. A pair of capri jeans, a tight purple tanktop, matching purple panty set and my black flipflops were my clothing of choice. After dressing quickly, I brushed my waist legth brown hair out, leaving it to frame my face and hang down my back. A strangled groan at the bathroom doorway made me smile.

"Baby, do that again and we won't make it to dinner." He growled before waltzing past me dripping wet, in nothing but a towel. Sitting on the bed facing away from him, I checked my mouth for drool as he dressed. He exited the walk in closet wearing tight butt hugging jeans, lace up boots, a super tight white t-shirt and a ball cap covering his customary blond high and tight hair cut. "You ready?" He asked, trailing a finger across my collar bone making me shiver. I nodded and we walked out of the apartment and to his personal truck.

"I guess, you guessed we're going to Shorty's." He smiled at me as we headed out.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:I do not own nor do I profit from the work of JE.**

 **Chapter 3:**

We found a table at the back, allowing him to place both our backs to the wall. We ordered an extra large heart attack special: triple cheese and triple meats and a pitcher of beer. Before we had even finished our first glass of beer, I cringed as I watched Ranger and Tank walk in. Ram acted as if nothing was wrong as they seated themselves at our table.

"You getting tired of getting dirty, Haz?" Ranger asked with a smirk.

"Nope." I ground out through gritted teeth. "Just getting started." He smirked and signalled the waiter that we needed two more glasses and another pitcher of beer.

"So, I heard Hart gave you two trouble."

"Nothing we couldn't handle, Sir." Ram stated after he drained his beer and poured another.

"Good thing you two have the weekend off." Tank watched me carefully. "Any plans?"

"Nothing concrete as of yet." I responded noncommitally.

"Stay out of trouble." Ranger warned.

"What? Don't trust me?" I challenged, ready to fight.

"Haz." He sighed and glanced up at me, "Don't make me regret hiring you."

"You already do." I whispered before grabbing my partner's hand. "Dance with me." I demanded dragging him to his feet and out to the open space of the dance floor. He selected a song on the jukebox and we twirled me into his arms as the song began. I slowly began to relax in his arms as the music washed over us, he gathered me closer as the song progressed, and by the end, I was leaning my head against his chest, eyes closed. The second song made me forget we had an audience as I molded my body to his, feeling the emotions from earlier in the apartment begin to burn in my body once again. It wasn't until he pulled away that I realised that the pizza was ready and we walked back to the table and to our bosses.

Ram placed two slices onto a plate and slid it to me, before serving himself the same. I watched as Ranger wrinkled his nose before digging into the massive salad he currently had sitting in front of him. Tank, helped himself to our pizza and I snickered. I knew he usually wouldn't eat this pizza, but just like us, he had the weekend off. "You up for a distraction job on Sunday?" He asked casually.

I stiffened. He knew I hated distraction jobs. I had seen what happens when things go wrong. Ram, stiffened as well, knowing my hatred for them. "Are you sure she should do it?" He asked, hesitantly.

"She's been trained." Ranger replied as if he knew exactly what our reaction was going to be.

"I don't know." I whispered, trying to hold my emotions together. I began to rub the scar on my arm, the reminder of what happens when things go wrong. "Who is it?"

"Zarcovski." My face fell. I knew our company only had another week to catch him before the bond would have to be forfitted and half a million is a lot to lose. The Bond company we worked with was desperate to get him back behind bars. I glanced at my partner and sighed.

"We have no choice you know." I told Ram who was clearly upset I was even considering the job.

"You always have a choice." He gently placed his hand onto mine on the table top. "You don't have to do this." He pled.

"Yeah, I do. We'll lose out on too much and it'll get around that we couldn't cath him. You know just as much as I do that it'll just make things worse for us down the road. I have to do this." I turned to Ranger. "Fine. I'll agree to do this, under one condition."

"Name it." Tank answered in no time flat.

"A weeks paid vacation after for both of us, no questions asked." I crossed my hands over my chest, determined to hold my ground.

"Done." My eyebrows raised in surprise as it was given without hesitation from Tank. Ranger on the otherhand, was not so happy.

"Are you serious? And what are you going to do on your vacation?" He slammed his fist down onto the table making the glasses jump.

I stared him down. "It's none of your business."

"It is, too. You're my responsibility and I can't have you running off doing something stupid because you get upset at a job." He growled.

I jabbed my finger into his chest. "You may be my boss, Carlos, but you're still my brother. And if Mama gets word of what you're making me do, she'll have your ass in a sling faster than you can open your mouth to appologise." I threatened. The big badass he was, still paled a little at the mention of our mother. I may be little and I may only be a woman, but I was Becca Manoso and I'm not above tattling on my big brother to get what I want.

Tank, chuckled and patted my brother on the back. "Man, she's got you backed into a corner." Carlos glared at him. "Look, she's going to help us, the least you can do is give her time to destress afterwards." Carlos glared at me before hanging his head in defeat.

"Fine. But one word of this to Mama and I'm going to make your life hell."

Before I could censor it, I mumbled, "You already do." With that both Tank and Ram burst out laughing.

"Alright. Be in conference room 4 at 1900 on Sunday for briefing. Dresscode is skimpy but classy." I nodded and finished eating my pizza in silence while the guys discussed the upcomming football season.

An hour later, Ram and I walked out of Shorty's to his truck. "Ice cream?" He asked and I nodded. We stopped off at a quick mart and he ran inside to buy a couple of pints of Ben & Jerry's for us while I waited inside the truck. He handed me the bag and drove off to my apartment in silence. We unloaded the frozen cargo into the freezer as I turned on the TV.

"What's your poison?" I asked, standing in front of my massive DVD collection.

"Expendables?" He asked and I nodded. I mean, come on! How could I say no to that? It's got Jason Statham, Randy Couture and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin in it. Okay, so I was more into the hot actors than the firepower and explosions, so sue me. We settled in to watch on the couch. I laid my head in his lap while he sat back against the back of the couch.

Halfway through the movie I shifted so I was sitting leaning against him, laying my head on his shoulder. It was common to find us this way on our days off, hanging out, watching movies and eating ice cream. So it wasn't a surprise for me to sit this way. What was a surprise was when my partner slid me into his lap. I laid my head on his chest and watched the movie half heartedly, paying more attention to his body than the movie. His hand began to make small circles on my back, just under the hem of my tanktop. My breathing hitched as his hand moved more to the side and hit a ticklish spot. I could feel his chest move as he chuckled lightly at my small squeek in response. "Ticklish?" He whispered into my ear. I closed my eyes and nodded, loving the feeling of his hands on my body.

His other hand that had been resting on my thigh began to gently squeeze and massage the muscle, making my body temperature rise significantly. I dared a glance at his face only to have his lips brush against mine ever to softly. I sighed in contentment as our mouthes and tongues duels once again. Wanting to feel more of him, I swiveled in his lap, stradling him bringing us closer. My fingers began to massage his scalp as we kissed, garnering a small moan from deep in his throat.

Soft kisses were trailed down my throat and to my colar bone, making me gasp in delight. "Baby, you're so soft." I shivered at the sound of his voice, silky and so sexy. I moaned breathily making him return one but deeper and more forcefully. "I want you so damn bad."

I shivered once more, delighting in the sensations my body were feeling under his ministrations. He boldly kissed me once more, sweeping me up into his arms and walked to the bedroom carrying me as if I weighed nothing. We slid onto my bed, our bodies touching, mouthes fused. I worked my fingers under the hem of his shirt tugging it free of the jeans. The feeling of his bare skin made me tingle in anticipation. Impatient with the pace, he tugged my tanktop over my head, breaking our kisses temporarily.

He laid me onto my back and trailed kisses from my throat down the the valley between my breasts. I closed my eyes revelling in the the feeling of his soft lips brushing against the sensitive skin. He blew his hot breath over my right breast making the satin covered nipple to pucker and stand tall, along with the left one. Goosebumps covered my flesh, as he nibbled along the top of the bra, not quite on the breast but closer than before. I dragged my fingernails gently down his back, making his hard member begin to throb where it was resting against my leg. His hands snaked under me, grasping at the clasp on my bra, releasing it in the matter of milliseconds. I sighed in relief as he threw the offending bra across the room. Only to cry out in desire as his tongue slowly circled my nipple drawing it further into a tight peak. They almost hurt, but his warm moist mouth laved the left nipple making me moan. It felt more than good, it felt incredible. My hands fisted into his almost non-existant hair as I arched my back forcing more of my breast into his mouth. Not wanting my other breast to be neglected, he used the palm of his hand and fingers to massage it to a peak as well. The next few minutes were heaven as he switched from one back to the other. Torturing me with sweetness and tenderness.

I tugged at his shirt wanting to feel more of his skin. He chuckled and reached over behind his head to drag it over his head. It was flung off to some far corner of my room unnoticed. I damn near drooled at the sight of his well chiseled chest and abs. I giggled and leaned up to bite his neck. "Baby, you're killing me here," he whispered.

"Too many clothes," I grunted as I reached down to undo his belt. He stood up and began to losen his belt as I fumbled with removing my capri's. I managed to get them off and lay there in nothing but my purple satin panties. He sat on the bed and tugged off his boots and socks. I looked down and took a good look at his feet. Damn! I never knew a man's feet could be sexy. They were long, muscled, a slight sprinkling of hair on top and well manicured. He chuckled when he noticed I was looking at his feet with desire. The sound of the zipper on his jeans made me jerk my focus north and right at crotch level. I had seen him earlier today, but I still wanted the reveal. He smirked before dropping his jeans to the floor, leaving him in a pair of tidy whities. I was surprised he wore them, word was that most of the men at our company went commando.

He smirked, "Surprised?" I nodded and watched him lower himself back onto the bed to snuggle with me. Within a few seconds we were kissing again and our hands began to wander. He glanced down at my panties and noticed the dark moist spot at the juncture of my legs. He dragged a fingertip over the wetness, garnering a low moan from me.

"Oh, god!" I breathed and felt him run his finger teasingly under the edge of my panties.

"I want to taste you." he whispered into my ear. At that I felt a small gush of fluid wetting my panties further. "I'm sorry, I'll buy you more." He tore the silky fabric straight from my body, exposing me to his gaze. "You're bare." He whispered, in shock. I grinned and shifted my hips a little brushing my mound against his hand.

"I am."

He dipped his head to drop slow gentle kisses downward, starting with my belly. He dipped his tongue into my bellybutton before circling it with, making me squirm. He dragged his tongue down further, he moved down between my legs. His lips dragged up from one ankle to just under the juncture of my legs, before repeating on the other side. I was groaning in frustration by the time he was smirking and watching me as he finished. "Please!" I begged, almost in tears.

He leaned forward and dipped his tongue in between my folds making me gasp. He held my waist down with one hand as he used his other to part my folds and lick from my slit to my hard sensitive nub. My head thrashed from side to side as I processed every feeling. He licked his finger and began to probe my entrance as he began to circle my nub, licking in with both the flat part of his tongue and with the tip. I began to feel the familiar burning within me as he slid his finger in, begining to touch the spongy interior making the feelings intensify. "Oh, God!" He shook his head from side to side violently, dragging his tongue with it bringing me right to the edge. He glanced at me through passion filled eyes and bit down onto my clit as he thrust his finger in deep. The fire burning inside me finally raged out of control, sending me over the edge completely. My walls clenched down onto his finger, my breathing almost stopped and I screamed his name, "EVAN! GOD, EVAN!" He gently and slowly brought me back down to earth, allowing my body to relax.

I watched as he slid back up my body, evening out height so our faces were at the same level. He lowered his head and kissed me deeply, I could taste myself on him and it was so erotic. He propped himself onto his forearms and I noticed that at some point when I was preoccupied he had divested himself of his undies. I watched as he expertly positioned him massive member at my entrance and I moaned wanting more contact. "I need you." I whined, nipping at his earlobe. His breathing hitched and in a split second, he was sliding into me. He was huge, stretching me around his massive shaft. I groaned in ecstasy loving the feeling of him inside me.

He sighed, "Baby, you feel so damn good. You're so tight." He waited for a moment to allow me to finish stretching before he began to rock his hips. I wrapped my arms around his neck to hold myself as he started to increase his speed. The fire in my belly began again in earnet, making me whimper, neededing more.

"Evan, more!" He shifted us so he was kneeling, bringing my hips up and legs around his waist. It changed the angle allowing him deeper access, making him bury his face into my neck. I captured his lips in a bruising kiss, tugging his bottom lips with my teeth. His thrusts causing me to groan every time he thrust forward. He stoked my slow burning fire by rolling his hips as he thrust. I couldn't take it anymore and pushed his chest to flip us onto his back. I leaned back, impaled on him, my eyes rolling back into my head. He grasped my hips as I slid further onto him, reaching as deeply as he possibly could. He bumped my cervix and it made me growl. I leaned forward and captured his nipple between my teeth, biting gently making him buck upwards into me. I placed my hands onto his chest and began to ride him hard. Soon, my downwards motions were met by him thrusting his hips upwards. I was completely on fire at this point and I couldn't take it anymore. "Evan, fuck me!" I growled more than pleaded.

He flipped me onto my knees, mounting me from behind. I lowered myself onto my elbows, ass in the air as he thrust mercilessly into me, taking me like an animal. I threw my head back, he grabbed a handful of my hair and hung on. His thrusts became frantic, he lowered his mouth next to my ear, "Cum with me Becca. Let me see you cum." At those words, it felt as life as I knew it ended. I screamed his name, "EVAN!" Bright lights exploded behind my eyes, my head throbbed, a undescribable feeling made me feel as if I was floating. In the background I could feel Evan throbbing and cumming, shooting ropes of his seed deep into me, shouting my name "Rebecca! Becca! Baby!" He slowly kept thrusting with each spurt he secreted, prolonging the pleasure. I was sure I felt like I was going to die.

The pounding in my ears seemed to keep going. I slowly opened my eyes and focused on his face as he became aware of the pounding, too. "That's not my ears pounding?" I asked, weak yet sated.

He shook his head and dropped it onto my back. "No, Baby. It's the door." He withdrew, making me whimper with the loss and settled me into the bed drawing the covers over me. "I'll get it. I'll be right back." He kissed my forehead and pulled on his jeans, commando. I smiled and sunk into the bed, exhausted. He walked out leaving me to relax. The next sound had me screaming and jumping out of the bed and pulling on the first thing I could find, Evan's shirt.

"You Son of a Bitch!" I knew that voice. Oh, god! I knew that voice! No!

I ran out to see that Carlos had Evan up against the wall in a chokehold, with Tank trying to pry Carlos off.

"Ranger, man! Let him go!" He shouted and managed to put Carlos into a bearhug, tearing him away from Evan.

"What is going on!" I screamed, going to Evan's side to check on him before glaring at my brother. "What did you do?"

"Nothing that he didn't deserve. But it's nothing compared to what I'm going to do to him once Tank lets me go." He growled in a venom filled voice.

"You'll do nothing!" I stood in front of Evan defensively and shook my finger at Carlos. "What the hell are you even doing here?"

"Trying to make you more comfortable about the distraction job. Looks like Ram's comforting you just fine, I see." He spat out. "Damn it, Becca. You're not old enough for this!" I stiffened and turned to him, channeling his no nonsense, total badass persona.

"Look here, Bastard! I'm plenty old enough. I'm twenty one and by law, I am old enough to decide for myself what I want to do. You may be my older brother, but as far as I'm concerned you're nothing but a jackass!"

"Becca..." Carlos warned, looking to me with disaproval.

"Don't you Becca me!" I warned and turned to Tank. "You need to get him out of here." Tank nodded and began to drag Carlos to the door. I stepped in front of Tank, halting his progress, "I swear to God Carlos, if any of this comes down on Evan's head, I'll have your balls on a platter."

"How can you say that?" He shouted, clearly still agitated. "He's just using you."

I was livid and probably out of my gourd, but I said the first thing that came to my mind. "I love him!" After the words left my mouth it sent me reeling. I love him. I love him? Damn right, I love him. "He's been there for me. First as a friend, then a best friend and then, tonight, I gave him my heart. At least respect me enough to make my own decisions. I know you love me..." I lowered my voice to a whisper, "please trust me." I turned to a clearly stunned but beaming Evan. "And trust Evan."

Carlos slumped in Tank's arms, clearly defeated. Tank let him go, confidant that he was okay now. He sat on the couch, hanging his head. "Becca..." Evan pulled me into his arms, wrapping them around me like a cocoon. Carlos sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "Look, since Papa died, I've been given the responsibility of taking care of you."

"I know, Carlitos." I looked to Evan who loosened his grip on me and allowed me to move freely. Sinking to my knees in front of Carlos, I looked into his tired eyes. "I also know that you're even more protective of me since Stephanie left. Please, I'm not going to leave you. I promise. I just want a chance at being loved. Don't you want me to be loved?" I asked, pleading with him.

"Becca, it's not that simple." He stated trying to sway me.

"No. It is that simple. I love Evan and that's the end of it." I looked to Evan who looked over the moon.

Carlitos turned to Evan. "Ram, you love her?"

"With all my heart. I'd die for her." He stated whole heartedly. "She's my world." He seated himself on the loveseat slowly. "Man, you of all people know I don't dick people around, least of all your sister. I've loved her from the moment I saw her. She's everything to me. I know she's your sister, but I'd never break the bond you two have." He looked Carlos straight in the eyes. "She's everything to you, too."

Carlos sighed and leaned forward to hug me, wrapping me into his shaking arms. "Alright. I will trust you, both. Please, don't disappoint me."

I hugged him back and kissed his cheek. "Thank you." I grinned but whispered into his ear, "You're still a dick and I'm going to get you back for this." He laughed and sat back.

I glanced at Tank who sighed and tapped Carlos on his shoulder and nodded towards the door. "Let's head out man. Let these kids get some sleep." He smirked at that last comment, making Carlos frown. "Night lovebirds." I gave him a fingerwave and he led Carlos to the door. He abruptly turned and looked at Evan in the eyes. "This will change the schedule. I'm partnering you with Manny from now on." Evan nodded, before I said a word he walked out calling over his shoulder, "Becca, I'll talk to you before the meeting on Sunday." And with that he and my brother were gone.

Shutting the door behind them, Evan turned to look at me. Realising I was overloaded at the moment, he lifted me into his arms and took us to bed. As we snuggled under the covers together, I realised I hadn't felt so relaxed and safe in years. As I drifted off to sleep, I was sure I heard Evan say, "I love you too, Baby."


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own nor do I profit from the work of JE.**

 **Chapter 4:**

Shielding my eyes from the midmorning sun, I heard Evan whisper into my ear, "Morning Baby. Coffee?" I nodded and held my hand out for the cup. Once I had half a cup of the life giving caffinated liquid, I sat up and observed Evan walking around in nothing but his undies. I giggled and watched him strike a pose, as I drained the last of my coffee. "Like what you see?"

I frowned and studied him thoughtfully. "Maybe." He acted shocked and jumped onto the bed next to me, making me shriek and drop the now empty cup onto the floor. I winced as he shifted me closer to him.

"I'm sorry Baby. Are you sore?" He rubbed my inner thigh, making me feel better.

"A little." I admitted."It's been a really long time." I was sure I was beet red like Hal when he gets embarassed.

"Really?" He asked, trying not to seem like he was prying.

"Uh, yeah. Let's just say, it's been five years."

"Five?" He cocked his head and glanced at me in confusion. "That would mean..." His eyes widened and he looked like he was confused.

"It's been since I was sixteen." I said quietly and drew my knees up to my chest, resting my head onto my knees. "It wasn't the best situation."

"Baby? What happened?" Concern covered his face and filled his voice.

"Um... nobody told you?" I asked and watched him shake his head no. I sighed and reached out to hold his hand. "It's hard to talk about." I paused trying to gather my thoughts. "I was on my way home from the pre-homecoming bonfire and I was attacked." His face filled with rage at the realization of what I was saying. "I was raped by three men and they never found the guys." At this point, I had tears streaming down my face. "I had to finish high school independantly. I never set foot back in that school. When Papi and Mama showed up at the hospital, they took one look at me and Papi had his heart attack. He died the next day. Carlos came back from his training in Fort Benning and stayed with me in the hospital so I could sleep. He was one of only a few people I trusted to protect me when I slept." I got to my feet and began to pace.

"It took me three years to trust being around men again. You of all people know how leary I am of men." He nodded finally understanding why I never dated. "I never felt safe. Until now." I looked him in the eyes, tears flowing down my face. "I don't trust just anybody. I trust you with my life, Evan. I trust you with my heart."

"Baby. Are you okay now?" He asked clearly nervous to touch me.

"Yeah. I am now." I reached out and touched his face with the palm of my hand. "I'm healed, I'm safe and I'm loved. What more is there?"

He grinned at me and kissed my palm gently. "I do love you, Baby." He leaned forward and kissed me gently. "But, I want you to tell me if I start to make you feel uncomfortable. Promise me?" I nodded and kissed him back, gently.

"I love you Evan Michael Ramsey."

"I love you Rebecca Elena Manoso." He smiled and drew me into a comforting hug.

Evan and I spent the next morning lounging on my bed watching TV and eating cereal from the same mixing bowl. It wasn't until after 1300, that we both decided that getting up and doing something with our day. "You want to head over to the mall with me for a little while?" I asked, pulling on my spaghetti strap sun dress.

"Where we going?" He asked, waggling his eyebrows, "I hear Vicky's has a sale." I laughed and chucked a pillow at his head as he lay on my bed.

Needless to say, we ended up at the mall and now I was perusing the fine selection at Victoria's Secret with my man in tow. I held up several pieces for his approval, without success. Until... he found a very sheer and very barely there selection of thongs I was sure I'd hate after wearing them for an hour. "I can tell what you're thinking." He whispered into my ear as I analysed them. "You wouldn't be wearing them for long." I blushed and grabbed a few in my size before eyeing some push up bras. I guess I'd be considered average in the chest department, so a push up sounded good to me at that moment. I held one up for inspection and grinned at Evan. He was discretely trying to adjust himself and wasn't having much luck.

As we were at the counter paying for my new 'lacy bits' as Evan called them, a shrill and grating voice called out, "Evan? Oh, Evan dear, is that you?" I glanced around trying to put a name with the face and cringed. A familiar blond barbie wanna-be, walked up to Evan and slid her hands over his chest. "I've missed you, Stud. What are you up to?"

I couldn't help myself and under my breath I muttered, "About six-five, dumbshit." Evan coughed to cover his laugh as she just glared at me.

"Oh, is that you Spaz... I mean Haz? So nice to see you again? Big brother let you out of your cage?" She asked in a sickly sweet voice and if it wasn't for Evan, I'm sure I would have torn off her face.

"Gee, Brittany. So good to see you again. Nice tits. Get another surgery?" I glaced down at her chest in mock pity. "Aww... too bad their lopsided." I snickered as she grew red in the face. Hey, if the bitch wants to be mean, I can be real mean.

She flipped her bleached hair and turned back to Evan. "So, how about dinner tomorrow night to catch up?" She tried to play off the sweet and innocent angle. Sorry sister, no dice!

"Sorry. He's working. But not on his back with his legs spread in the air. Oh, sorry, that's just you."

She raised her hand to slap me, but Evan grabbed it and held it as he growled. "I don't know what you're getting at Brittany, but we broke up, remember! And besides, I already have a girlfriend."

She smiled seductively and leaned into him, as he still had a hold of her wrist. "Aww, Evan. You don't have to tell her and I won't say anything." he dropped her arm like it was diseased, wiping his hand on his shirt.

"Back off, Bitch." I stepped in front of Evan and bared my teeth at her, making her flinch slightly. Ha! Take that bitch.

"What are you going to do about it Spaz? Tell his girlfriend?" She scoffed and winked at Evan who now looked more pissed than anything.

"No. You fucking ..." Just at that moment, the salesgirl butted in.

"Sir? Here's your card back." First she handed over the credit card and then the bag, over the counter. She looked first at him and then at me, "I hope you and your girlfriend enjoy. Thanks for shopping here at Victoria's Secret. Have a nice day." It was at that moment I could have kissed the salesgirl, because the shriek that came from Brittany was priceless!

"What?! Her? You've got to be kidding me! She's a skanky whore!"

"Who you calling a skanky whore, you flea ridden piece of trailer trash. Didn't look dumb enough so you had to dye your hair bitch blonde?" I glared at her and stepped into her personal space. "Why don't you go crawl back under what ever nasty trailer your ass came from and die."

She glared first at me, then at Evan. "Fine! You want to date a nasty piece of ghetto trash, Evan. Go ahead. When you come to your senses, you call me." She turned on her twice repaired fake Louis Vuitton shoes and huffed out.

I shouted after her, "Don't hold your breath Bitch Barbie." I looked at Evan who was rubbing his forehead, in total frustration.

I dropped my gaze and my voice, "I'm sorry."

He enveloped me in his embrace in the blink of an eye. "What for?" He asked, nuzzling his face into my neck.

"For embarrassing you. Making an ass of myself in the middle of the mall. For saying those things to..."

"STOP." He ordered forcefully and I cringed. "Do you realise what you've done?" He demanded. I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut.

In a tight low voice he growled, "You march your little ass back to the truck. I'm taking you home." I nodded and began to turn to walk away, before he added, "So I can boff your brains out. That was the hottest fucking thing I think I've ever seen." He nipped at my ear. "If we don't get home in the next ten minutes, I'm going to blow right into my pants, and we don't want that, do we?" I shook my head violently and grabbed his hand running for the nearest exit.

Neddless to say we made it to my house in record time and he indeed did boff my brains out. As I lay on top of him in the bed afterwards, I noticed the receipt from Vicky's was hanging out of the bag. One good look at it and I began to laugh hysterically. Evan gazed at me in total bewilderment. "You okay, Baby?" All I could do was point to the receipt and wipe away the tears that started falling from laughing too hard. As I was sucking in air desperately, he rolled over and snagged the receipt. He held it out and looked at it, then to me, "What?"

I plucked it out of his hands and then flipped it over. Another receipt was stapled to the back and after reading it, he laughed as well. Apparently, the salesgirl hated Brittany as much as I did. Not only did she reverse all charges on Evan's card before handing it back to him, she managed to write a quick note to us both. _Brittany's such a bitch. Good for you, he's hot! No charge. Enjoy!_ She finished it with a smiley face. I knew I liked that girl from the beginning. Well, if it's any consolation, she's got my business for life.

Dinner was a quiet affair. We managed to sneak back into his apartment on four and mooch dinner off of Ella. Ah... Tia Ella. She always knew me better than myself. No more than twenty minutes after we scooted into Evan's apartment, she called me on my phone. "Becca, Sweetheart. I have dinner for you and Ram waiting. Just call me when you two lovebirds decide it's time." Before I could say anymore she added, "And I made you dessert. Carlos, doesn't know."

I sighed and smiled, "Gracias, Tia. We'll call." She hung up and I stood there grinning at the phone for a few second before I hung up.

"Was that Ella?" Evan asked, patting the couch next to him. I decided to forego the couch and sat on his lap.

"Yup. She's holding dinner for us. _And_ dessert." I giggled and snuggled into his chest, I loved listening to the sound of his heart beating. It always seemed to calm me and center me, even when we first started partnering together. As we hung out, I would find myself snuggled up to him for wither warmth or comfort late at night when we would party or watch movies. My head would always lay atop his heart and I would remain still, just to listen to the faint thumping.

In lavish grandure, we dined on fine china and drank from crystal goblets. Not! In all honesty, it was plain stoneware plates and normal plastic glasses for us. Like I'd expect the good stuff to make an appearance unless Tia Ella was expecting Ram to propose. And honestly I don't see that happening any time soon. Anyway, the food was delicious, as always. Dessert was one of my favorites, a mini tower built of chocolate cupcakes drenched in hot fudge. What? I can have my dessert over the top. Like you've never eaten something that other people look at like you're absolutely nuts! Well, this is mine. Let me say this, it is mighty tasty! And best yet, I shared with Evan. See, I can share _and_ I can be nice... sometimes. He he he.

We fell asleep on the couch watching another movie. Sometime during the night when Tia Ella came for the dishes, she found us and covered us with a blanket. We awoke to the sound of pounding on the door. Still half asleep and with my eyes closed I got to my feet and slamming the door open. "This better be good or some Fuckwit is going to get his brains bashed in." I rubbed my eyes and opened them at the sound of a throat clearing and a quieted chuckle. There standing before me was both Bobby and Lester grinning. Bobby handed Lester a fifty and sighed. I snatched the fifty and shoved it into my bra before turning around and laying back onto a snoring Evan. The door slammed shut, indicating that they had walked in.

"Hey! That was mine." Lester whined and poked me in the ass. I wiggled it and snickered.

"Tough shit. Tell Tia Ella on me. Like I give a shit." I grumbled into Evan's chest, flipping him the bird.

"Damn, Haz. Did you and Ram drink last night?" Bobby asked, eying the both of us looking mighty exhausted.

"No. Long nights, can't sleep." I almost held it together before I snickered once. ONCE! And then it was as if a lightbulb went off in Lester's head and he jumped to his feet. Bobby just began to shake his head in his hands mumbling about having to clean up blood and guts again.

"Oh, SHIT! Ram you're going to die man! Ranger finds out you're porking his little sister and you'll be face down in a grave somewhere we'll never find you. Fuck, man!" Lester began to pace and I turned my head to watch him. By this time Evan was fully awake and watching Les with fascination.

He then looked down at me, "We tell him?" I cocked an eyebrow then nodded. "Dude. He knows."

"What? And you're still alive?" Bobby was shocked, stunned really. "What happened?"

I shifted onto the couch allowing Evan to sit up. He placed his arm over my shoulder and leaned back, relaxed. "He came unglued." He moved the neck of his shirt to the side to show off a nasty set of hand prints on his neck. "Gave me a nice necklace for it, too." I rubbed his thigh for comfort and let him continue. "Tank grabbed him, pulled him off and then we talked about it."

"I threatened to put his balls on a platter." I stated easily. "Besides, I pulled out the big guns and used the 'please trust me' speech. It worked." I winked at Evan and snuggled into his side.

"So, you two, huh?" Bobby asked, pointing from first Evan and then to me and back again.

"Uh, duh! I thought we already established that." I sassed. "What's the big deal?"

"Um, almost every man here has been dying to get a chance to ask you out, that's why." Bobby huffed out and rubbed the back of his neck. "I know Rodriguez will be crushed."

"I knew it!" Aha! I _was_ right. He did have a crush on me.

"What ever. What's your Mama going to say Haz?" Bobby asked, glaring at Evan. "What's your Mama going to say Ram?"

We looked at each other and shrugged. "Dude, you're like twelve years older than her." Lester ground out through gritted teeth. "And if I find out you treated my little cousin with anything other than the respect she deserves, I'm going to personally kick your ass."

"Age doesn't matter and yeah, I get it man." Evan understood Lester's protective nature of me. Other than Carlos, Lester was the only other man for a long time that I allowed to get close to me. Maybe it was the fact he was my cousin, maybe it was the fact he came home the minute Carlos called him and told him what happened when I was attacked, maybe it was the fact he spent the next month looking for the attackers, nonstop.

"So, what we doing today?" Lester asked, changing the subject.

"We?" I asked, eyebrow cocked. "Who said anything about we?"

"Yeah, we." Bobby stated with a wide grin plastered on his face. "So, I was thinking..."

"Don't hurt yourself there Doc." I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"Shut up." He snapped and then continued, "There's always Sunny's." I looked at Evan and watched him light up like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Sunny's it is." I sighed.

We showered and dressed while Bobby and Les bashed each other on the X-Box. We both dressed in our usual cargos and black shirts, matching the boys. Original, I know, and headed out.


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own nor do I profit from the works of JE.**

 **Chapter 5:**

Watching Evan surround himself with so many different firearms was a sight to behold. He smiled wider, laughed easier and looked as if he were in heaven. I know, a girl should be jealous, right. Wrong! This was the real Evan. The Evan I fell in love with. The Evan who was Rangemaster at work. The Evan who kicked ass and loved it. So, it came as no surprise that he was a favorite customer of Sunny's.

Sunny was a 60+ skinny bottle blond, with boobs that even to this day defy gravity and a penchant for anything that fired ammo. Professionally, she was a ruthless shark, talking you into buying the costliest weapon, but personally, she was one of the sweetest women I knew. I walked behind the counter to greet her when we walked in. "Sunny!" I kissed her cheek and hugged her close. She was like my Abuela but with a gun.

"Haz! Honey. Good to see you." She glanced at the guys behind me and grinned. "You here for a day to relax?"

"Yeah." I smirked. She nodded and handed me a key for the underground firing range. "She's all yours. My one o'clock cancelled. Just make sure..." I cut her off.

"I know, Sunny. Just make sure to scan all the boxes of ammo we use. I know. I'll bring you the tag when we're done." I kissed her cheek once again. "Thank, Doll."

She grinned, "Hey! That's my line." She turned to the boys, "Make sure she trys out the new shotgun I got in. Bet you twenty bucks she lands on her ass."

Lester perked up, "You're on. She'll be fine." He grinned at me before slapping Sunny on her ass and heading down the stairs. Sunny smiled and personally I think she's got a thing for my cousin. I love her and all, but... EWWW! Anyway, we all walked down and got set up. For the next three hours, the guys and I fired round after round, blowing through case after case of bullets. Rifles, shotguns, semi-automatic handguns, assault rifles, you name it we shot it, pretty much. Much to Lester's delight, I shot that new shotgun Sunny was talking about. It had a hell of a kick, but never did knock me on my ass.

We finally finished and I scanned the empty cases of ammo. Breathing deeply, I inhaled the smell of gunpowder and closed my eyes, enjoying the acrid smell. I know, not many women consider it enjoyable, but this one does. Maybe that's one of the reasons Evan and I are so compatable. The Bobby and Les swept the shells and tossed them into the bins near the door, while Evan field stripped and cleaned the weapons. Nothing like leaving clean guns and a clean range to keep Sunny happy. I walked upstairs to hand Sunny our purchase slip for the ammo and hear a voice I hadn't heard in five years. It was frightening and I froze.

The feeling of someone's hand on my back made me squeak. I flipped around to defend myself and found myself face to face with the guys who were looking at me in confusion. I began to shake and tears streamed down my face. I looked at Les and simply said, "One of them is here." The rage that filled his face was absolutely terrifying.

He ran past me, dragging me with him. By the time we got to the top, Sunny was standing alone behind the counter. He raced up to her and demanded, "Who was just here? Where is he?"

Sunny reeled, totally confused and looked to me for clarification only to find me in Evan's arms crying. "What?"

"The man that you were just talking to, where is he?" He demanded again.

She pointed to the door, he jumped over the counter and ran for the door with Bobby hot on his heels. By the time they burst through the door, the parking lot was empty save for a few of the regular's cars. "Son of a Bitch!" Lester pulled at his hair, distraught that the assailant had slipped through his fingers once again. He hung his head and allowed Bobby to lead him back into the store.

Evan looked to Bobby who shook his head, while Lester walked over and took me into his arms shushing me and rocking me back and forth comforting me. I sobbed into his chest, letting out all the frustration and fear I had bottled up for the last five years. Vaguely, I heard Evan calling Carlos telling him we'd be back at Haywood in fifteen. They loaded us up into our SUV and gunned it for home.

We screeched to a halt in the underground garage to find most of my friends, Tank and my brother waiting. I shot out of the SUV and into Carlos's arms, sobbing. All but my brother and Tank looked at me in confusion, as Carlos hugged me, smoothing my hair. "It's okay, I've got you." I eventually wound down to a few hicups and he turned to Evan and the guys. "Meet us on seven in five." They nodded and made to move away. I reached out and grabbed Evan, refusing to let him out of my sight.

"NO! Evan stays with me!" I shouted and dropped my arms from around my brother and wrapped them around Evan. After he lifted me, I wraped my legs around his waist and buried my face into his neck. "Don't let me go." I began to sob once again.

"It's okay, Baby. I got you." He cooed into my ear, kissing the side of my face. The look of shock, disbelief and anger on the other men's faces was quite evident. A few grumbled before Carlos silenced them with one of his patented looks.

"Everyone else, conference room in 30." They shuffled up the stairs, leaving us in peace. The core team and I loaded into the elevator and headed up to Carlos's apartment. In the matter of 2 minutes, we were sitting around his living room. Well, technically, I was sitting on Evan's lap. Both Hal and Cal looked a little unsure of what was happening and I felt bad. I always managed to ruin a perfectly quiet day with my drama.

"What happened?" Carlos demanded with a pissed look on his face.

"She was headed to give Sunny the ammo receipt when she froze on the stairs. We came up behind her and she told Les, 'one of them is here' he ran after him and didn't find him. Ram called you and here we are." Bobby reported, giving me sympathetic looks.

"What is going on?" Hal asked, "Why is she crying? What happened?" He was clearly upset and hurting for me. Of all the guys, he was the one that empathised with my pain the most.

Carlos nodded to Tank who recited the same story I had told Evan friday night. By the end Bobby, Cal and Hal were fighting to stay in control. Evan handed me a tissue so I could wipe my eyes dry and blow my nose. "I couldn't move. It was as if I was frozen." I whispered.

"It's okay, Sweetheart. We'll find him." Hal said, giving me a hopeful smile. I heard Evan growl deeply in his chest at Hal's term of endearment. I patted his arm and he ceased.

"I don't know if I can take this again." I admitted, hanging my head.

"You're wrong." Evan forced me to look him in the eyes. "You have Ranger. You have Tank. You have Hal, Cal, Bobby, Lester, all the men at Rangeman. Hell, You have me!" He lowered his voice and kissed me softly. "You have me, Baby."

Cal pointed to the two of us, "So, the two of you?"

Hal almost shouted, "Ram and Haz? You've got to be fucking kidding me!" I glared at Hal making him soften his glare and then drop it all together.

Evan nodded, "Yeah. We are. Ranger knows." He nodded towards Carlos. "So can it. I'm asking you guys to squash any scuttlebutt or rumors about Becca and I for the time being. We have bigger fish to fry right now."

"What do we do now?" Bobby asked, trying to help the conversation along.

Tank looked to Hal, "We review the security tapes. Not the ones Sunny usually gives the cops The ones from the cameras we installed." Hal nodded and walked into the kitchen to call Sunny. "We will need traffic camera footage from the surrounding area. Contact Hector and get him to hack the city's traffic cameras." Bobby opened his phone to call Hector.

Carlos slid off of the couch and kneeled down in front of me, "Becca, we're calling off the job tonight. You can't do it if you're distracted yourself."

"I guess. How are we going to catch Jackson then?" I asked, suddenly feeling guilty of changing Carlos's well laid plan.

"I always have two or three back up plans, don't worry. We'll get him." He turned to Tank. "Call the meeting." He rose to his feet and walked into his bedroom for a few moments of alone time. We shuffled to the door and made to leave when I heard an unfamiliar sound from the direction of the bedroom.

"I'll be just a moment. Meet you at the elevator?" I asked Evan, who nodded.

I walked into the bedroom to find Carlos, holding his rosary beads, murmuring a prayer. I waited until he finished and wrapped my arms around him, feeling his strength flowing into me, making me stronger. "You make me stronger."

"You make me not such an asshole." He smirked and held my hand as we walked to the elevator.

We rode the elevator down to five, walked into the large conference room and waited for the last man to be seated. Carlos surveyed the men with a critical eye and I noticed that they sat straighter, paid more attention and seemed on edge. Nothing like the boss being pissed off to bring some order to the troops. I snuggled into Evan's chest ignoring what was being said around me for a while, until I felt Evan bump me awake. He lowered his lips to my ear. "Baby, you gotta wake up. Ranger's almost ready to tell the men what happened to you."

"The distraction job tonight has been cancelled. Due to extenuating circumstances, we will be picking up the FTA in a different manner." He paused and looked at me for a split second. "Five years ago Haz was attacked when she was sixteen. She was sexually assaulted by three men, all of which were never caught." The men began to shout in anger and shock. Carlos held up his hand silencing the men. "It took her two years to be able to function around men. Her employment here is proof positive that she is healing." He shifted in his stance and it became a little more angry a little more menacing.

"This afternoon, Haz, Santos, Brown and Ram were at Sunny's when Haz recognised the voice of one of the attackers. She was unable to see the man and make an ID. Santos made chase and was unable to locate the perp. At this moment, locating this piece of garbage, is priority number one. You mess with one Rangeman, you get us all. We protect our own." He seated himself and looked as cool as a cucumber to most people, but I knew better. He was a hair's bredth away from snapping and leaving a path of distruction a mile wide in his wake.

Tank stood in Carlos's place and barked out orders. "Hal has the security footage from Sunny's and Hector has the traffic camera footage. I need two teams of three men to review and analyse the footage and run facial recognition. As soon as you find out who he is, run checks on him. I want to know everything about him. Name, age, weight, height, address, occupation, record, everything! I want to know what that asshole had to eat last night! His life is an open book for us!" The men waited with nervous energy, sitting on the edge of their seats just waiting on one word. "Dismissed." At that, they ran from the room, filing out in twos at a fast clip towards their cubicles. It was like watching a well oiled machine at work.

In the matter of a few hours we had him. Russell Darrington, 31, 275 lbs, 5' 11", he owned a small duplex in Hamilton Township, arrested for everything from drug possession to assault with a deadly weapon and he was currently FTA from Les Sebring's bonds office. Carlos took one look at that last little bit of info and nodded to Tank. Tank immediately called Sebring and set up a meeting. "We have a meeting in 30. He seems awfully glad we called about him."

Evan walked me down to his apartment and set me on the counter of the kitchen, while he and Manny talked about the new pairing. "You okay with the new pairing?" I asked Manny after their conversation petered out.

"It's good. We've partnered before, so this is old news." He smiled and bumped my arm with his. He leaned down and laid his head onto my shoulder.

"So, you won't mind if I sneak a few minutes with Evan here and there?" I smiled and watched him double over in laughter.

"You are such the exact opposite of your brother, you know that?" I shrugged and rolled my eyes.

"Whatever." I punched him in the pec and ended up shaking my hand because of the pain that radiated up my arm. "Damn. You wear an iron bra or something?" I complained.

"You're just jealous because I have a perfect chest." He puffed his chest out, while Evan groaned.

"Dude, it's old, flabby and wrinkly." He shuddered and snickered at Manny's response.

"I'm not old." Manny deadpanned.

"You're 40. You're old." I stated and pinched his nipple making him growl in mock anger. "You're like, old enought to be my dad."

"Alright young lady!" He hoisted me up and over his shoulder, slapping my ass. "I'll show you old." He dropped down onto the couch, manhandling me over his lap. He raised his hand and asked, "Are you sorry?" I laughed and tried desperately to fight against him, but even at his age, he was too strong.

"Never!" I giggled and then felt the slap on my ass where his hand connected. Evan stood by and watched in fascination as Manny and I argued through a spanking. "You are such an Old Fart." *SLAP*

"I'll show you, Brat! You better watch yourself there little girl." He teased and gave me one last slap before handing me off to Evan with a hearty laugh. "Dude, she's all yours. Good luck, you're going to need it." He scooted out of the apartment before I could say a word in retalliation. Having Manny try to relax me and make me laugh, made me feel a whole lot better. I mean, other than the guys in the core team, Manny was the one I was closest to. I trusted him the most to keep Evan safe and in one piece.

Rubbing my red and throbbing ass, I lamented, "He's so dead."

"Baby, you're a trip." Evan looked at his watch and nodded for the door. I knew the meeting with Sebring was going to be an emotional one and I tried to steel myself against the rising tide of emotions. "We got 15, you okay?" He wrapped my into a massive hug before kissing my head gently.

"Yeah. I'm good... I think." Not quite sure of how my sanity would hold up, I sighed and shrugged my shoulders.

"I'll be right there the whole time." I nodded and kissed him gently. He slid his hand into mine and we walked out the door to the stairwell.

Evan and I walked into the conference room to find the core team, Les Sebring and a few of his skip tracers. I grimmaced when I noticed that one of the tracers Sebring brought was someone I had hoped not to deal with again. Jennifer Denning. Great! Not! She and I never got along when we were kids in Newark and we most certainly never got along when we were adults. She and I had what you would call a love-hate relationship, we loved to hate each other. She was fine until she noticed me walk in hand in hand with Evan.

"What the hell is she doing here?" She sneered giving Carlos a nasty look.

Knowing the history between the two of us, Carlos gave her a blank look back. "She's part of this. Take it or leave it, Denning." He showed no emotion but laid down the law. "You can cooperate or you can get out."

Jennifer looked to Sebring and whined, "Les, are you going to let him talk to me like that?" I rolled my eyes and sat in a chair between Tank and Evan.

Sebring turned to Denning and sighed pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Jen, I'm not listening to your whining again. You heard Ranger, either you stay and help or you can leave." She huffed out, crossed her arms, pouting but remained in the room.

Lester rose to his feet and shut the door, turning the lights off in the process. Carlos hit a button on the remote sitting on the table, lowering a picture in the wall revealing a huge flat screen TV. A picture flashed onto the screen making me cringe. "Russell Darrington. Rangeman wants him." Carlos stated, never taking his eyes off the skip tracers that Sebring had brought. Of the three, two made faces of displeasure while Denning made one of surprise.

"Why?" She asked, clearly interested.

Carlos looked to me for permission to tell my story, I shook my head and he turned back to Denning. "It's need to know."

"Look," she shifted in her seat clearly trying to weasel information out of him, "I'm not going to give you any of my info if you can't tell me why."

Bobby didn't like the way she was trying to pry into things she didn't need to know. "Let's just say, he's suspected of additional crimes."

"Additonal crimes?" She cocked her head and glanced at me. "Does it have anything to do with Spaz?"

"It's Haz and if you have a problem with Haz, than I suggest you take a good look around Ms. Denning. She's part of Rangeman. Do you honestly want to piss any of us off?" Evan asked with almost a snarl.

She sat back in her seat, clearly taken aback. "N..no. I... uh... sorry, Haz."

"We have the basic rundown on Darrington. We're interested in hearing what you all have on him." Tank supplied, trying to get the conversation back on topic.

Sebring slid a folder that had been sitting on the table in front of him over to Carlos. "Darrington was bonded out by my company for $250,000. Assault with a deadly weapon and robbery. He held up a local food truck and shot one of the workers in the foot as he tried to make a get away. TPD caught him a block away when he tried to hide in a shed."

"Associates?" Tank asked, pen and paper at the ready to take notes.

"Stone Griffin and Joey Jackson." Denning stated after checking her notes. Carlos looked at Tank and their ESP was working in full force.

"Joey Jackson. He's one of our FTA's. His bond is up at the end of the week. Hard to find, harder to get a hold of." Lester stated, rubbing his jaw as he thought outloud.

"Both he and Darrington hang out at a house on Stark Street. The guy who owns it served time with Jackson in the pen several years ago." Sebring explained with a sigh. "That's the best place to find them, though they're not there very often."

"We'll need the address." Tank stated in his no nonsense manner and I watched Sebrings crew shift in discomfort.

Sebring wrote down the address and slid it across the table to Carlos and then glanced at his crew. "You are to give Rangeman all of your notes and files on both Darrington and Jackson." They nodded and Carlos stood indicating that the meeting was over. He held out his hand shaking Sebring's hand and then the hands of his crew.

"We'll call if we need anything else." Carlos added before watching Hal lead Sebring and his crew out the door.

Standing, I walked around the table to look out the large bay window. The information about Jackson and Darrington felt off somehow, wrong even. I furrowed my brows and bit my lip, ignoring the conversation happening behind me. Jackson and Darrington. Darrington and Jackson. This whole situation made me queasy. I had a feeling it had to do with the information we got from Sebring's crew. The feeling of someone's hand on my shoulder finally brought me out of my musings.

"Something feels wrong about it, doesn't it?" Carlos asked in a low voice. I nodded and turned to face him, shielded by his wide shoulders and lithe body.

"I think the some of the info Sebring's crew gave up is bogus." He raised an eyebrow and turned to the guys.

"Send a crew over to stake out the new address, but I want to research both Jackson and Darrington's families and known associates." They nodded and left to begin their research. Evan winked at me as he walked out to his own cubicle. Carlos lead me out to my cubicle and sat me down in my chair. "Try and ferret out what's bugging you."

My fingers flew over the keyboard and after hitting several dead ends, I found what I was looking for. I printed out the info, highlighted a few things and headed for my brother's office. I knocked and waited for his normal gruff command. "Enter."

"I knew something was off." I grinned wide at Tank and handed Carlos the papers. He spent the next thirty seconds scanning the pages until he slammed them down on the desk with a seriously pissed look on his face. He snatched the phone off the cradle and dialed a familiar number.

"I have a problem. I'd like for you and your staff to return to my office in an hour." He used a very calm and cool voice to a person who I was pretty sure was Les Sebring. He hung up without saying goodbye and I rolled my eyes.

Carlos handed the papers to Tank, who reviewed the info I had found. His face grew hard and in a voice I hardly ever heard, he turned to me, "You found this?" My smile said it all. "It's going to do some real damage to Sebring's business." I shrugged and turned to Carlos.

"She's got a knack for finding this crap." Carlos stated with a frown.

"I know. It's like Bomber all over again." Tank shook his head and sighed, before turning to me. "Please say you'll back off and let us handle this, please?"

"Why?" I nearly shouted. "I found it! I know this SOB best! I should be there finish this."

"Haz!" Carlos reprimanded. "You will not engage in an argument. That is an order."

I sighed and looked him dead in the eyes. "Yes, Sir." He smirked, knowing how much it irked me to call him that.

"I suggest you return to Ram's apartment and get some dinner." My stomach growled in agreement and I glanced down at it pissed. It always made itself known at the worst times. I didn't feel like eating but if I didn't eat, Evan would be concerned and tell Bobby, who would in turn tell Carlos. So it was a situation where I would not come out a victor, so eating would be in my best interest. Damn!

"Fine." I turned on my heels and marched down to Evan's apartment.

After eating a small piece of cassarole Ella left for me, I returned to my desk and booted up my computers. I glanced around before making a quick phone call. "Necesito ayuda." (I need help.)

"Si. Un momento, Novia." (Sure. One minute, Sweetheart.) I loved that man, I grinned and set the phone back onto the cradle before staring off into space to wait for him. Hector was the peanut butter to my jelly. The Milli to my Vanilli. The sweet to my tea. You get the picture. I immediately bonded to him my first day, it also helped that Carlos named him my protector in his absence. Sadly, he's had to fill that role a lot in the last two and a half years I've been at Rangeman, since Carlos has been off doing Uncle Sam's dirty work.

Hector has called me Sweetheart since he was introduced to me, it bothered Carlos for a while until Hector told him it was because he loved me like a little sister. Sad thing, Hector lost his real sister during a drive-by at her work almost four years ago. Until I came to work at Rangeman, Hector had withdrawn into himself and was slowly becoming a danger to the others at Rangeman. His control began to slip and Carlos had to reprimand him several times. Once I started working with him, Hector became his old self and it was like nothing had happened. Hal asked me once what did I do to him. I looked at him with a confused look on my face and shrugged. I told him, 'I didn't do anything but love him for the man he is, not the threat you think he is.' No one said anything more after that.

"Novia." I turned to find Hector grinning like a cheshire cat.

"Otra Mitad. Se puede hackear el servidor DOD por mi?" (Other Half, can you hack into the DOD server for me?

"Si, pense que iba a pedirme que haga algo duro." (Yeah, I thought you were going to ask me something hard.) His fingers flew over the keyboard and in the matter of seconds, he had the search page for the DOD open and waiting for me.

"Gracias, Hector." (Thanks, Hector.)I kissed his cheek and smoothed back his hair as he hugged me.

"De nada." (No problem.) He slipped away from my cubicle and disappeared back to his domain down in his electronics lab. I first entered Jackson's name and in then matter of ten minutes, I had forty pages printing. Next, I entered Darrington's name and almost shouted at my discovery after reading the first page. I printed his info, bouncing my knee and biting my nails the whole five minutes it took to print. I closed out of the DOD site and shut down my computer before snagging the pages I had printed and headed into the conference room for the meeting. shuffling the pages, I pulled out the most inportant and circled the important bits. I sniggered in my glee, oblivious to the stares from those seated around me waiting on the very same meeting.

I heard a nasaly voice bring me out from my rejoicing. "So, what pray-tell is so funny?"

I turned to see Denning, Sebring and his other tracers sitting quietly at the table. "Nothing." I stated noncommittaly, holding my temper.

"Well, it has to be good to hear you cackle like that." She sniffed, giving me a look of distaste.

"Whatever." I ignored her and went back to my papers. A few minutes later, Evan found me and seated himself to my right.

"Hey, you good?" He asked. I knew what he meant but I played it off as something completely else.

Slipping into my blank face to show him I was in business mode, I answered. "Yeah, I ate before I finished my paperwork." I slid the pages to him and waited for him to read them. His blank face remained in effect as he read. I could tell he was upset, he has a small tell where his jaw ticced just once, ever so slightly. It wasn't noticable to most people, but for those who knew him, knew he was pissed as all hell.

"Alright. It looks all in order. Just leave it on Ranger's desk for tomorrow." He ordered and I watched him give me a hand signal under the table where the others couldn't see. He gave me a thumbs up and an okay sign. I held back my smile as Carlos and the rest of the core team entered. Lester effectively slammed the door shut behind him. We watched as our guests jumped in their seats, I swallowed my chuckle, as I'm sure the others did as well.

"Seems we have a problem with the information we were given by your tracers." Carlos stared right at Sebring.

He looked puzzled for a moment before glaring at his tracers. "Alright." He slammed his hand down onto the table. "Which one of you gave Rangeman false or wrong info?" He demanded. All three tracers looked shocked and scared, but nobody confessed. Sebring turned to Carlos, "You know who?" Carlos nodded and looked to Tank who walked over between the first and second tracers, who laid a hand on each of their shoulders.

In a even tone, he spoke, "Thank you for not screwing us over. You both can go." They jumped to their feet and just about sprinted out the door.'

Sebring glared over at Denning and shook his head. "You screwed me over for the last time Jen." He warned through gritted teeth.

She glared at both Carlos and Sebring. "What? You think I did it?" She nearly screeched.

Carlos flung the papers I had handed him an hour ago at her. She picked them up and began to read. By the time she was halfway through, she began to shake and I sat there smug in my confidence. "What the hell is this?" She demanded and stood on her feet. Tank shifted slightly toward her, making her move in the opposite direction. She looked like a rat caught in a trap. Her eyes darted from person to person and then to the door. Before she could even think about making a break for it, Hal effectively blocked the door with his massive frame. Realising she was trapped without a way out, she dropped back into her chair. She held her head high, acting as if she was some martar for some ill conceived cause.

"You gave us a false address, a false association and other false leads for both Jackson and Darrington." Carlos growled, making her cringe slightly. "You have connections to Jackson. You're his sister." She stared straight ahead ignoring what Carlos had to say. "You erased info in Sebring's searches, you created a false associate and address to throw anyone off the trail." She sniffed and now was examining her fingernails as if nothing was happening.

Having had enough, I slapped my hand down onto the table, making her jump. Growling through gritted teeth, with fisted hands, I shouted at her, "You tell him what you know, or this will look domestic compared to what I'm going to do to you." She glared at me until I looked at her with the menacing stare I learned from the guys. She audibly gulped and I knew I had her. She shifted her eyes between myself and Carlos, before she caved.

"He made me do it. He knew I had access to the computer and could lay a false trail for him when he skipped. It wasn't hard, nobody even gave me a second glance when I used the computer at the office when I was doing my searches. Joey will kill me." She cried and dropped her head into her hands, sobbing.

"Should have thought about that before you screwed me over." Sebring stated before standing and nodding to Carlos. "Ranger she's all yours." He turned back to Denning. "Good luck finding someone who will bond you out." With that, he walked out of the room.

Tank had his phone to his ear, "We're transporting someone to you. Jennifer Denning. Aiding and abetting felons and falsifying documents. ETA in 10."

Cal stood and dragged Denning to her feet before slapping his cuffs on her arms. I walked over to stand next to Cal, being the only female, I had the responsiblity to escort any female prisoner to TPD. She struggled while cuffed, trying to kick Cal. We entered the elevator as she struggled more. She managed to scratch Cal on his arm, before I had enough and slyly pulled my stun gun and tagged her on the side. She gave a small "Eep!" before she slumped to the floor. Cal glanced back and forth between the unconscious prisoner and me before breaking out into a deep belly laugh.

"Nice." He finally said after wiping away a tear.

"What? I didn't see anything. How come she's on the floor?" I asked as the elevator opened to the garage. Bones and Chance glanced at the lump that was Jennifer Denning and looked to me. "What?" They both shook their heads and allowed us to drag her ass to the closest truck.


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own nor do I profit from the work of JE.**

 **Chapter 6:**

The ride to TPD was quiet with Cal in his 'zone' and me in Lala land. We pulled up just as Denning was coming to and dragged her out of the truck, she began to babble something about a meeting with a man about guns on the docks on the river. I glanced at Cal who aknowledged her ramblings. "He's going to pay him big, big money!" She almost shouted before turning to me with a grin. "Joey's going to find out what you did and he's going to kill you like he should have five years ago." I froze and almost vomited. Holy shit! Jackson was one of the other men who attacked me? Cal tugged at Denning a little more forceful than necessary making her jump before leading her into TPD. I stood there in silence for a few more seconds before joining Cal. I retrained my blank face in place as we walked up to the Desk Sargeant.

"Rangeman to drop off Denning." Cal stated in a strong even voice. The Sargeant looked from both of us to the weeping and definately pissed Denning who was struggling to get out of Cal's cuffs.

"Sure. Tank called a few minutes ago. You can cuff her to the bench." He handed Cal a set of TPD cuffs and pointed to the wooden bench attached to the wall with a cuffrail just above the top. Cal walked her over and switched her over as I waited patiently. She began to scream and shout obscenities at any and all who were around her, cop and criminal alike.

Turning to the Sergeant, I reminded him, "She should be in protective custody. We used to work for Sebring as a BEA and skip tracer." He raised an eyebrow at her then nodded.

"Guess, putting her into the Gen Pop booking would be a bad idea then, huh?" He grinned watching her face drop with fear. I snickered internally before turning on my heels and following Cal out of the station.

"You're evil." Cal whispered. I grinned until I heard another voice I wished I hadn't.

"Hey, there Pumpkin!" I stopped dead in my tracks and sighed pinching the bridge of my nose, counting to ten.

"Ferras." I turned to see him jogging up to where Cal had parked the truck. "What do you want?"

"You free tomorrow night? I got a hankerin for some pizza and beer, you game?" He waggled his eyebrows and I tried desperately not to gag.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I do not nor will I ever want to spend a second of my free time with you. Ever! You are a disgusting pig and I can't even stand to be near you. Back the fuck off!" I stated with a straight face. He moved a little closer garnering a defensive growl from Cal.

He raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. Call off your dog. I get it." He shuffled backwards as he gave me a parting shot. "If you change your mind, I'll be waiting." I shivered and slammed the truck door shut behind me.

Cal glanced over at me and shook his head. "You gonna tell Ram or am I?" My steely gaze made him shift uncomfortably in the drivers seat. "I guess that's a big no to both of them, huh?"

"You got it in one. Good boy." I patted his head like you would a dog. He smirked before driving us back to Haywood.

The shots rang out from nowhere, hitting the driver's side window next to the support post and all down the driver's side of the truck. Cal swerved and gunned us out of the area as I called it into control. "We're taking fire! ETA 20 seconds." After a small grunt, Cal expertly manouvered us through traffic on the main street and then onto Haywood. We flew down the ramp and into the garage with the security doors slamming shut behind us. Emergency lights lit the interior of the garage, bathing it in an erie red glow. I slowly got out of the truck and into Evan's waiting arms. Cal remained in the truck, I spun around, only to watch him slump over. I screamed, "BOBBY! Cal's hit!"

Bobby burst out of the stairwell with his medical bag as a few guys pulled Cal from the truck. He had been hit in the left shoulder and a nasty graze across his forehead. I winced, knowing he was going to be pissed someone messed with his tattoo. Bobby gave him a quick look, "Get him up to sickbay." Three men carried him to the elevator, as Bobby ordered. Sobbing in Evan's arms, I watched the doors closed with an unconscious Cal dripping blood onto the marble floor.

"Haz, what happened?" Carlos asked, trying to pull me out of my breakdown.

Sniffing back my tears, I realised we were surrounded by the men. I swallowed the last of my fear and put myself right into work mode. "Uh... we were driving down Hamilton about 30 seconds out, when shots rang out. Driver's side. Cal got us out of there and I called it in. I didn't see who it was, that part of the street was clear of civilians. Two blue hatchbacks, a maroon coupe, a green truck and a delivery box truck from Vermont were parked in the general vicinity." He frowned and glanced at Tank.

"On it." Tank raced out of the garage with six men in tow. They tore out of the garage in three different SUV's.

"Let's get you upstairs and get you calmed down." I shrugged off Evan's arms and Carlos's hands.

"First Cal, then me." I marched up the stairs with the men in line behind me.

Watching Bobby work was magical. He was methodical, precise and exact in everything he did in treating Cal. Speaking of Cal, even though he was sedated with enough sedatives to knock out a horse, his fat ass woke up in the middle of Bobby stitching up his shoulder after he dug out a 44 calibur round. He began to thrash about incoherently, until I jumped up and began to run my hand through his hair, calming him down. "It's okay, Cal. It's Haz. You're fine. Bobby's stitching you up. Just relax, Honey. I'm right here." I kissed the side of his face and he instantly relaxed. Evan gave a low growl of displeasure and I glared at him. "He'd do the same for me, so chill." He stepped back and allowed me to comfort Cal while Bobby finished.

Bobby gave a long sigh, "He's going to need an x-ray on that shoulder. I need everyone out." He ordered and I giggled when Cal resisted and hugged me closer. "Fine! But Haz, you need to wear an full body apron." I rolled my eyes and held my hand out for the lead apron. Once I was covered, Bobby situated Cal on the exam table and took the x-rays. I flopped the apron to the floor once he was done and patted Cal's hand.

"Alright. I need to go and talk to Ranger. Cal, you be a good boy and I'll bring you an ice cream when you're done. Okay?" His head wobbled up and down indicating he was saying yes. I giggled a little more and rolled my eyes at Bobby who gave me a gagging motion with his finger and mouth. I flipped him off and asked, "Jealous much?"

"Get out." He ordered and began to clean the gouge on Cal's forehead.

The fact that I didn't even get to knock before I was ushered into Carlos's office should have been a bad omen. Notice I said 'should have been'. "Haz, have a seat." Tank ordered more than asked. I looked at him but his blank face wasn't giving anything away. It wasn't until I looked at Carlos with _his_ blank face that I realized I wasn't going to like what was about to happen.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"We're putting you on lockdown." My brother stated as if he were talking about the weather. Instantly, I felt my temper rise and my blood pressure with it.

"SON OF A BITCH! You've got to be fucking kiding me! Why?" I automatically assumed my brother's office was soundproof, but according to what happened next made me question that.

Evan burst into the room, ready to fight the world for me, when he heard my yelling. "What the hell?!" He growled, moving in front of me protectively. I shoved him out of the way and stuck my finger in my brother's face.

"You've got another thing coming if you think you're going to keep me prisoner."

"We think you were the target of the shooting." Tank stated after he slammed the door shut behind Evan. He turned to Evan and glared at him, "Next time wait for an invitation to interrupt a private conversation."

I glared at Tank and stepped up into his personal space, pointing a finger in his face now. "Evan is as much a part of this as I am. What I know, he knows and vice versa. From now on, he's to be included in everything. Got it?!" I was royally pissed now.

"Becca." Carlos sighed and dropped down into his chair, cradling his head in his hands. There weren't too many times I could think of where my brother was at a loss for words, even momentary. "Look, we want you to be safe. Word on the street is Denning got a message to Jackson and Darrington stating she was taken into custody by Rangeman. We're waiting on confirmation from the recorded phone conversation to verify she told them about you. We won't risk your safety, period."

"So, what am I to do? Sit around and be a good little girl and twiddle my thumbs? Knit? Bake a fucking cake?" I asked sneering, completely unhappy with the current situation.

"We're sending you to a safe house."

"The hell you are!" I made a move towards the door but surprisingly it wasn't my brother or Tank blocking the door. It was Evan.

"Baby, just hear them out." He hesitated, knowing I had a temper from hell and loved taking revenge on those who pissed me off.

"What!? You're helping them now?" My back slid down the wall, leaving me in a fetal position hugging my legs and my head resting on my knees. From the position I was in, my words were muffled. "Juss kew e ow."

"Quit being so overly dramatic." Carlos spat, clearly he was now mad at me. Good for him. Whoopee! "Get your sorry ass up and listen to us. Now." Dragging myself into a chair, I glared at the three men who were currently at the top of my shit list and threatening to stay there for good.

"We're sending you out of state. Santos, Hal, Manny and Ram are going to escort you."

""Can you at least tell me where we're going so I can pack appropriately." I figured playing along would make things easier for me until I could figure out this whole fiasco.

"Colorado."

"Whatever." I huffed and rolled my eyes. I knew about the 'safehouse' Rangeman had in Colorado. It was a collection tiny cabins interconnected by underground tunnels. A single one would be a tight fit for a one person, let alone two or more when I was being babysat. "Why there?"

"Darrington has the financial ability to travel at a moment's notice and to anywhere. As far as we know, he has no connections to Colorado in any way, shape or form." Tank explained, placing a hand onto my shoulder. I knew he was trying to get me to forgive him and I knew it was working. I never could stay mad at him, no matter what he did or said to me. I finally caved and patted his hand with mine gently and smiled up at him. His return smile was one for the books: big, bright and wide. He knew damn well I forgave him.

After a loud huff and crossed arms, I looked Carlos straight in the eyes, "Fine. But I'm not happy about it." Evan looked a bit relieved as did Carlos. Whatever. "All I'm saying is, I better get some privacy this time. Last time we were there, Tank walked in on me while I was taking a shower." I watched Carlos's face turn from one of relief to one of a seriously pissed off brother. So I decided to add fuel to the fire. "Completely naked." Evan dropped the file he had in his hands, while Tank turned as pale as I have ever seen a man of color go. Carlos got real quiet, his fists clenched and a slight twitch on his left eyebrow. Ha! Take that asshole. And take that Tank. Maybe I was still mad at him. Ha ha ha. Revenge is a bitch!

The look Carlos gave to Tank, was one of both anger and disbelief. Tank held up his hands in surrender. "Man, I had no idea she was in there. Her shower broke and so she decided to use mine without permission. I didn't see nothin'." Carlos, trusting Tank's word, relaxed once again and glared at me.

"You are to have _minimal_ privacy. I will have a guard posted in the bathroom if need be. So, no funny business." Carlos warned with narrowed eyes.

"Whatever. I don't want to hear a word about my clothing choices and not a peep about PDA's with Evan." Standing my ground and making my own rules seemed like a good idea when I thought of it. That was until he opened his mouth and tacked on a few additional stipulations of his own.

"A few other rules." Carlos stood, walked around the desk and stood in front of me, feet planted apart, arms crossed over his chest and a stern look on his face. "No hanky panky with Ram. Period. No flashing the men. No unescorted walks anywhere. No going into town for anything. No phone calls to anyone but Rangeman. No contact with anyone via the internet. You are off the grid and off the map." Wow, now I was sure I was going to make life hell for my brother for the rest of my life, threat of death or not. And, yup, he stays on my shit list permanently.

"I have a few more of my own." I cocked an eyebrow and raised myself to my feet. I hated the fact I was eight inched shorter than Carlos, so I hoisted myself onto the chair to raise myself up. "I get all the junk food I want. I get all the necessities for a 'woman'. I want to be able to enjoy being there, if you're going to hide me away for God knows how long, I want to be able to take a few hikes. _And,_ I want to be able to access the internet for stuff to keep myself entertained."

"No junk food. Yes to womanly necessities. One hike. Limited and monitored access to the internet." He countered still blank faced.

"No junk food, no dice." I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. An evil smile erupted across my face and I could tell all three men internally cringed. "Or, I guess I can call Mama." I sing-songed reaching for the phone on his desk. He snatched my hand away from the phone and shoved me into Tank's arms.

"God, you're going to be the death of me yet!" He glared at both Tank and Evan, "One word of this conversation to the rest of the men and I'll kill you both where you stand." He warned before turning back to me. "Fine! But, any problems, any escape attempts, any little coincidental accidents and your ass will be handcuffed, blindfolded and stuffed into a closet. Understand?" His glare had minimal effect on me by this point and I just grinned.

"Okay. When do we leave?" I asked, actually looking forward to a little time away from Jersey.


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own nor do I profit from the work of JE.**

 **Chapter 7:**

Handing Cal his ice cream bar was one of my highlights for the day. He was propped up in the hospital bed in Sickbay, a patch of gauze taped to his forhead and another large gauze patch taped over his shoulder. "You remembered." He smiled tiredly, holding my hand.

"Of course, Silly." I kissed his cheek making him blush a light shade of pink. "I would never forget you. You saved me today." I scooted up onto the bed sitting next to him. Taking his hand into my much smaller ones, I whispered, "You kept me alive. Thank you, Cal." He sighed and relaxed into the bed as he began to eat his strawberry shortcake ice cream bar.

"You would have done the same for me, Haz." Clearly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, he changed the subject. "So, where they shipping you off to?"

Refusing to look up, I played with my fingers. "Colorado."

His light laughter was an indication that the pain meds Bobby gave him were working. He hated that place as much as I did and we both knew it. "At least you can do the 'il nana' with Ram." He wiggled his eyebrows for a moment before hissing in pain. "Fuck that hurt."

"Nope. I can't, Ranger's orders." I sighed and glanced sideways at him. "Maybe you can get a different tat this time. Maybe a 1940's pin-up girl. They're hot." He smiled and began to get that medication induced glazed look after he finished his icy treat. I slid off the bed and kissed his cheek once more as his eyes fell shut. "You just sleep now, okay. Get better."

" M'kay." With that, he promptly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Snoring included.

With some help from Tia Ella, I was done packing. She had been escorted to my apartment and packed a bag for me. So, with nothing to do, I was currently watching a documentary on TV when Carlos, Tank, Hal, Manny, Lester, Bobby and Evan walked into Evan's apartment. "Are we leaving yet?" I asked, antsy.

"In the morning, Baby." Evan stated before sitting onto the loveseat next to me. Les flopped down onto one of his easy chairs while the rest either stood or found a place to sit on the couch. "We're going to have a late dinner. I know it's late and you barely ate dinner before the meeting with Sebring." It was nearly 2300 by this point and I just nodded too tired to care.

A knock at the door indicated that Tia Ella was here with food. Hal let her in, as she wheeled in a cart full of chinese takeout cartons. Each were marked with the contents and soon we were pigging out on some of the best chinese food east of the Rockies. I did notice, true to form, Carlos stuck to steamed vegi's, steamed brown rice and what looked like some type of plain poached fish. Not me! I had lo mein, sweet and sour pork, broccoli beef, mandarin chicken, egg foo young and wor wanton soup. So I felt like being a pig, so sue me!

We chatted about stupid stuff as we ate. I pointed at Carlos with my chop sticks, a piece of sweet and sour pork still between the ends. "You know, you need to start dating again." All other conversations between the men ceased at that point and they all looked at me like I was asking for trouble.

Carlos glared at me before softening a little. "I don't have time and I don't have the inclination." He stated simply.

"Bull shit!" I shoved the piece of pork into my face and began to chew thoughtfully. After swallowing, I attacked his reasonings. "Look, we all work crappy hours. We all have our problems. And we all fine it hard to get ourselves out there and look for someone." I set down my chopsticks and drank half my beer, trying not to get too sappy. "You of all people know that finding someone who will put up with your lifestyle is rare. But you've done it before, you can do it again."

"It's not that simple, Becca." He sighed and rubbed his forhead. It was surprising that he was being so candid in front of his men. "What happened with Stephanie was not what I expected to happen. No one expected for her to die, least of all me. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her." He set down his chopsticks and sat back, a thoughful look on his face. "I was going to propose to her that night."

I nodded and wiped a tear from my cheek. I of all people understood what he was going through. In the last year of her life, Steph had become my best friend and mentor. She showed me how to work searches like nobody's business. We had girl's nights in, since I wasn't old enough to go clubbing or drink, we did lunch, we shopped and hung out at Vinnie's when we got bored. She was like the sister I always wanted, considering Celia and Amelia were the sisters I never wanted.

I knew something was up with Carlos the night she died. He was nervous and fidgity, constantly checking on the status of things during the takedown. She had done distractions for years, most with success. But that night, things went horribly, horribly wrong. Steph had the FTA eating out of her hand and then Morelli walked in with Mafia Barbie on his arm, sucking face. Steph watched him enter and in the instant he saw her, Morelli waltzed over and blew her cover. The FTA pulled a gun and fired a round once into Morelli's arm and then sadly once into Steph's chest. The doctors said she died instantly, but I saw with my own two eyes the footage of her mouth the words 'I love you' to my brother before she died. Carlos was a wreck. I was a wreck. Hell everyone at Rangeman was a wreck. Tank had to call in guys from the other offices to cover for the Trenton men.

At the funeral, Steph's mother blamed her for every bad thing that happened to her family over the last six years and Carlos lost it. He railed into her, putting her into her place. Later, he pulled Steph's dad aside and gave him a check from the life insurance policy she had naming both Frank and Grandma Mazur as benificiaries. Frank almost had a heart attack and dragged Grandma over to see what they had. The next day, Frank filed for divorce from his wife, Helen. He and Edna moved out of the house they shared with Helen and into a large house out of the burg, closer to Rangeman. Carlos still has a great relationship with both Frank and Grandma, as did the rest of the men at Rangeman. Often Evan and I have escorted Grandma to viewings and had dinner with Frank. After Steph died, Grandma and the men came to an understanding, she stopped groping and feeling them up out of respect for her grandaughter. They often escorted her to and from senoir events in and out of town. Frank, Carlos, Tank, Bobby and Lester often had poker nights, usually lasting well past midnight.

I cocked my head and asked Carlos, "Do you think you'll be dishonoring Steph and her family if you decide to move on with your life?" He shrugged but I knew better. He was afraid of letting her and her family go. "Carlos, you're not letting her go. You're not letting Grandma or Frank go. You're letting yourself be happy, that's all. Don't you deserve to be happy?" He shook his head.

"I led her to her death. She didn't stand a chance. It was my fault, we didn't use the contingency plan." He hung his head and picked at his dinner. The guys were still silent until Tank manned up and spoke.

"Man, she loved you like there was no tomorrow. Do you think she'd want you to be miserable? We all know she was mad as a wet hen when you kept fighting against your happiness with her. Why would this be any different? Let the guilt go. It's eating you alive." I placed my hand onto his arm, effectively stopping him from jabbing the poor piece of fish on his plate.

"Guilt is a nasty master. It's demanding and all consuming. Guilt does nothing but make you miserable and prevents you from having a life." Manny said in a low voice. "Trust me, I know." Manny's wife had been killed in a car crash when she was traveling to his Ranger's Graduation. It wasn't until after the ceremony that he found out. His life was forever changed. Manny blamed himself, saying he should have just paid for a plane ticket for Selena instead of making her drive. It took until last year for him to let go of the guilt. Now, he's happier, freer and finally dating again. "Seventeen years is a long time, my friend. Don't be like me. Bomber wouldn't want you to mope around. She'd want you to get out there and find a woman who suits you."

"Now, that doesn't mean you can't get laid once and a while." Les joked, waggling his eyebrows. I threw an empty takeout box, nailing him in the side of his head. Carlos glared at him and then wonder of wonders, Carlos laughed like it was going out of style. I soon found myself chuckling with him and within a few seconds we all were laughing. It was a nice transition from the dark subject we had just been discussing. Les, snatched my fortune cookie and cracked it open as I crawled over him trying to get it back.

I snagged the fortune just before he read it, saving me the right to enjoy my little bit of wisdom by myself. It read: _Distractions will hinder your efforts to succeed in your endeavor of justice_. I snickered. How true was this fortune, huh! I tucked the little slip of paper into my pocket and watched the guys all read theirs. They always played this stupid little game where you read your fortune and then add 'in bed' at the end. Stupid, I know. But hillarious most of the time. Les held up his paper and read, "Happiness is not counted in quantity but in quality," the rest of the guys all rolled when Les added, "in bed."

Bobby went next, "A sure hand will get the job finished." Les almost choked when he piped up, "in bed!" Hal was beat red and was trying to hide his paper until I snatched it from him and read it for him.

"You will meet someone who will take you for a ride." I snickered and rubbed his head. "It's okay, Hal. Either you'll find a con man who will bilk you out of a bunch of money or a chick is going to ride you like a freakin' horse." Howls of laughter filled the room.

It was immediately stopped as Carlos held up his hand as he read his fortune. He flicked it down onto the table his face a mask of rage. I leaned forward to see it wasn't a normal fortune, it had been customised. _Run, Rebecca, run. I will still find you._ I stood up and calmly walked out the door.

I had no idea that Evan and Manny were following me into the gym until I shouted to the guys working out inside to vacate the premesis. I turned to lock the door behind the last one and found both Manny and Evan leaning against the wall. "Out." I ordered and pointed to the door. They both shook their heads and waited me out. Deciding that fighting with them wouldn't do me any good, I ignored them as I taked my hands up and purposefully walked over to the punching bag. I tenetively hit it at first, to get it swinging, then I beat the living tar out of it, only slowing when the strain of lifting my hands became too much. Even with the tape, my knuckles had split and were bleeding. I collapsed into a heap onto the floor, too tired to even cry.

Evan picked me up and carried me out of the gym and to his apartment. He striped me, helped me shower and dressed me in a pair of panties and one of his super soft t-shirts. The whole time, I remained silent and just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. He laid me on the bed, carefully covering me before turning off the light and leaving the door open only a crack. I laid there refusing to sleep, refusing to do anything but relive the horror of my attack, relive the torture of pulling my life back together again and relive the agony of my father's death.


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own nor do I profit from the work of JE.**

 **Chapter 8:**

Low voices murmured from the front room, glancing at the clock it was almost 0500. I had laid here almost three hours and not slept a wink. I figured I had wallowed in self pity for too long and decided to get up and get ready for the day. I dressed my hands in new gauze and tape that was sitting on the side table before I gingerly dressed myself. Softly padding out of the bedroom, I made my way into the kitchen for some coffee. I ignored the questioning looks the guys gave each other as I preceeded with my day like normal. In the long hours I lay on the bed, I had come to the conclusion that I should be more like my brother. Protect my emotions, protect my thoughts and protect thsoe around me in the process. It's worked for him so far, so why not me. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't going to cut Evan out of my life, but I was going to be more proactive about my safety and the safety of those that I loved, namely the guys at Rangeman.

I waited for someone to speak, but it wasn't until Carlos entered fifteen minutes later that he broke the silence."Jet is fueled and ready. Seven fight plans filed, hard to trace otherwise. We leave in 5." He walked out, after giving my hands a slight glance. I shrugged and chugged the last of my coffee. After setting the coffee cup into the sink, I kissed Evan on the cheek and walked over to the door. Walking together, Evan, Manny, Hal, Lester and I hoofed it down the stairs and loaded up into a SUV. Six other SUV's loaded with men were waiting on us.

"They're decoys. One is headed north, one south, one east to the shore and one west. One is going to a helipad at the opposite side of town from the municipal airport where we're headed. Duck down into the footwell, Manny will lay down over you for extra protection." I nodded and did as I was told, squeezing myself into the tight cramped space as best I could. Manny laid down over me and I could hardly breath, I figured it was better than not breathing at all. The security gate lifted bathing the garage in natural light, we waited for four of the SUV's to leave before ours pulled out. We made it as far as the gate before shots rang out and our SUV was hit mulitple times. Les threw the SUV into reverse and back into the garage before the security gate slammed down protecting us from further assault. Carlos and Tank ran into the garage to assess the damage.

"BECCA!" Carlos shouted clearly upset.

In a muffled voice I replied. "I'm good. Just squished." Carlos sighed as Tank called back the other teams.

Manny rolled off of me as the other guys exited the vehicle. He winced and hobbled away from the truck towards Bobby. "I think you better get your bag, Bob-O." He turned to show off his blood stained pants. "I think I took one in my six." I ran over and grabbed Manny in a huge hug, while Bobby retrieved his on the go bag from one of the trucks.

"I am so sorry, Manny. What can I do?" I asked, tears streaming down my face.

"Honey, will you kiss it and make it better?" He laughed and winced in pain. Slapping at his arm playfully, I kissed his cheek. Upon a quick inspection, Bobby ordered him upstairs to Sickbay. I groaned and helped him hobble to the elevator.

Bobby dug out the slug from Manny's right ass cheek where it did nothing but some slight soft tissue damage. After Bobby cleaned the affected area, twice, I leaned down and gave Manny a quick kiss on his ass cheek. Bobby chuckled and held up his phone showing me the photo he took. I groaned and hugged Manny before heading to Carlos's office with Evan and Hal as my body guards. "Really? We're inside Rangeman, what's going to happen?" They both shrugged and continued to follow me to the office. Hal stationed himself in front of the door as Evan and I walked inside.

"Well, that was FUBAR'd." I stated flopping down onto the incredibly comfortable leather couch. "First I get Cal shot and now I get Manny shot. Who's next?"

"Stop." Carlos held up his hand and indicated he wanted silence. "What I want to know is how the hell the shooter knew which truck to hit."

Tank spoke up after Carlos sighed, "We found the car the shooter used, abandoned two blocks over in front of Hawkins Appliance. We've got Hector checking the surveilance footage right now. We're waiting on Erik to finish his ballistics report." In a flash his phone beeped, he read his text message and added, "Erik confirms that the round from Manny matches the round from Cal."

"Nothing we didn't suspect already." Carlos stated before looking at me. "You're locked down here at Rangeman. You can share with me on seven or you can take over number two in basement level two." I raised my eyebrow and looked at him like he was tap dancing in a pink tu-tu and fairy wings.

"Say what?" Okay, I was totally confused now. I knew about the garage level, wasn't that the basement?

"It's where we hold certain prisoners before we can hand them over to certain agencies." Tank explained and looked like the cat that ate the canary. He turned to Carlos, "Ranger, man, I'll show her." Carlos rolled his eyes (yes, he rolled his eyes at Tank!) and motioned to the door. Evan held back as I walked to the door.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked, confused.

"Been there done that. I'll meet you down there, but I want to talk to Ranger first." I smiled weakly before allowing Tank to place his hand on my lower back to lead me to the elevator. After the doors closed he pulled out a fob, pressed the button and one of the mirrors swung out revealing a small control panel. He entered a code into the keypad and the allowed a retinal scan before the elevator decended. I glanced at the cameras in the corners and he shook his head. "They're off. Once I open the access panel, it shuts them off. All I have to do to turn them back on is hit both the G button twice." Okay, that's something to store away for future reference.

The doors opened into a small short hallway with only four doors, two on each side. He walked past the first set of doors and opened the last door on the left. Stepping inside I gasped. It was a fully furnished luxurious apartment, except the fact that there were cuff rails around the room, a third way across the room and another two thirds were metal posts with cuff loops. "This isn't too bad. I guess I could stay here in a pinch." The place was like Club Fed, high end custody. The flat screen TVs would keep a person busy, as would the huge library of books. I pulled the heavy drapes back to find a bank of TV's collected together to look like a window with an image of the New York skyline on the collective screens. The kitchen was almost as high end as Carlos's and the fridge was fully stocked with items that would keep for long periods of time.

"What's it going to be?" I heard Evan's voice from behind me.

"I don't know? I love it up on seven, but I don't want to cramp Carlos's style." Tank guffawed and then immediately cleared his face of emotion.

"Before you agree, this apartment is monitored 24-7 when someone is staying here." He warned and I glared at Tank.

"Well, I was going to stay here, but now that I know that little tidbit, I think I want to stay with Carlos." Evan nodded and allowed me to walk in front of them to the elevator.

On the ride back upstairs to Carlos's office, I leaned into Evan for comfort. I guess a sleepless night can do that to a girl. Next thing I knew, I was being laid on the couch in Carlos's office and the guys were chatting. "Once Ram told her about monitoring, she balked and chose your place." Tank stated in a whisper.

"She can stay as long as it's going to take to catch these Bastards."

"She's taking it well." Hal whispered in his not so quiet whisper voice.

"She's internalizing it. It's going to come to a head like last night sooner or later."

"I'm fine." I croaked out and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "I just needed a quick nap."

"Haz, you're falling asleep standing up, it's time to relax and let your body catch up." Bobby sat next to me and hugged me close.

"Fine!" I snapped and scurried out the door and to the elevator. I looked at the camera in the corner and the elevator ascended to seven. I threw open the door and after stripping down to my skivies, I slid into Carlos's bed. It had to be a matter of seconds before I was fast asleep.

Ah... a day at Point Pleasant. Sun, sea and sweets. I bought a wand of sweet candy floss and seated myself to watch the waves in peace. Once I took my first bite, I knew something wasn't right. The cotton candy was tasteless and it wasn't pulling apart like it should. I gave one last tug and heard a ripping sound, in the back of my mind I realised I was dreaming. My eyes fluttered open to find feathers everywhere. In my hair. On my face. All over the bed. In my mouth. I glanced down at the tattered remains of the pillow and groaned as I tried to pick feathers out of my mouth. After I managed to get the last little bugger out of my mouth, I realised that the dream about cotton candy must have made me begin to chew and tear at the pillow. GOD! I am such a dumbass! What is wrong with me? I quickly found where Tia Ella hid the vaccuum and sucked up all the feathers before anyone found out. A quick text to Tia had the pillow replaced in the matter of minutes with a promise to explain later. She gave me a knowing smile and collected the torn pillow before disappearing once again.

Swirling a spoon absentmindedly in my bowl of granola, I stared off into space thinking about what I could do to help the guys capture Jackson and Darrington. Honestly, the only thing that came to mind was using me as bait in some type of takedown. I knew Carlos was flip out and refuse to do it, but maybe Tank would be more receptive. I dressed slowly, my hands still somewhat a mess from my time with the bag and headed downstairs. I found Tank going over the latest intel with Manny. Tank was at his desk, relaxing comfortably as he scanned the file, while Manny looked like he was in constant discomfort from his wound. A bubble of laughter escaped me, revealing my position of peeking around the corner of the doorframe, when I saw Manny shift slightly revealing his inflatable ass donut he was sitting on. "Oh, my god! I'm sorry, but that's just too funny." After a few seconds of glaring from Manny, I finally wiped the smirk off of my face. Tank sighed and waited for me to enter his office.

"What's up Haz?" He noticed I started to figit a little and he fully expected me to talk.

"Um, I kinda had an idea to catch Darrington and Jackson." Both he and Manny crossed their arms over their chests waiting for me to continue. "You'd have to do something I'm sure Carlos would freak out about." Tank motioned with his hand for me to keep going. Sighing, I finished, "You'd have to use me as bait."

"Fucking hell!" Manny shouted, standing and hobbling over to me after wincing in pain from standing too quickly. "There is no fucking way, I or anyone here at Rangeman is going to let you do that. Do you understand me?" He had his hands grasping my upper arms shaking me slightly when he spoke. It was a little scary and I for one wasn't going to take it.

"Get off me!" I shoved his hands away. "It was just a suggestion. Besides, do you have a better idea?" I challenged and glared at him. Manny froze after looking at Tank.

"We should tell her." Manny pleaded.

"Tell me what?"

"We've come up with a plan that you may or may not like." Tank cushioned the blow by seating me in front of him on the desk. "We're going to smuggle you out of Rangeman using the sewer system."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. What is this, a movie? Are we in some stupid B-movie? Guys, this is real life. It's not going to work."

A voice behind me made me cringe slightly. "Actually, it will. I tried it a few hours ago and it worked." Carlos walked into the office freshly showered and far from smelling like a sewer.

"So, I just drop in and walk my way out? Is that it? After that, then what? I get whisked away by a truck full of manure?" I rubbed my forhead in frustration.

"Actually you'll be encased in a biohazard suit with a self contained breathing aparatus and you will be picked up by Blade and taken to Miami. To Abuelas."

"No." I stamped my foot. "I refuse to put her in any type of danger. You know better, Carlos!" I chastised. "Mama raised you better than that."

"I didn't say you would stay there and I never said she would be staying there either." He assumed a parade rest stance in front of me. "You will both then be escorted to my yacht and make your way back up the coast. The time will allow the men and I to tighten the noose around Jackson and Darrington."

"So, I'm to spend how long away?" This plan sounded not so bad, except being in the sewer, yuck.

"Two, three weeks tops."

"I better get my junk food." I smirked. At this point I was more than ready to catch these assholes.


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own nor do I profit from the grand works of JE.**

 **Chapter 9:**

After Evan gave me a panty ruining kiss, he sealed me into the suit and zipped me up. Being in the biohazard suit was a little freaky. It was like being sealed up in my own little world. Hal gave me additional protection from leaks by taping over the zipper with duct tape. He handed me a laminated map of the sewer system and patted me on the back. "Good luck, Haz."

"Thanks." I knew my voice would be muffled a little so I talked a little louder than normal. He gave me a thumbs up and pointed to the hole in the basement the guys had busted through for my escape. Turning my whole body to look at Carlos, "Are you sure Blade is waiting for me?" He nodded and gave me a small smirk.

I sighed and then carefully lowered myself into the massive tunnel. Wading through raw sewage was the grossest thing I have ever done. Worse than watching someone puke up close. Worse than watching someone eating haggis. (BTW I hate haggis.) It was just disgusting wading through this stuff. It took me almost an hour to make my way through the pipes and tunnels careful not to snag or rip my suit. I came to my exit point and climbed the ladder left for me to use. As I climbed out of the hole, I saw a guy dressed in Rangeman black leaning against a typical black Rangeman SUV and I sighed relieved that the worst was over.

Carefully, I extracateed myself from the suit, paying special attention not to get any of the 'goo' on me. Stepping out of the suit, I took in my surroundings and shook my head. I was inside what looked to be a courtyard of a an old manufacturing complex. Completely deserted except for Blade and I. As I walked around the truck, I came to the realisation that this man was not Blade. My worst fears were coming true when I saw Darrington sitting in the SUV waiting for me.

"It's about time you made it out." He sneered. "Although, you'll have to shower before I get to finish what I started years ago." My legs couldn't carry me fast enough for my liking and apparently it was just slow enough for Darrington's goon to catch me. He tackled me to the ground, my face scraping the ground. He held me fast, even though I struggled as best I could, screaming my head off for Blade. "Your little buddy won't be able to help you. He decided to take a dirt nap." He pointed to a pile of debris off to the side near one of the buildings. "Put up one hell of a fight, though."

"You are insane." I screamed at him, grieving for the loss of a Rangeman brother. "Rangeman will find you and you will go down. Forget jail, forget living out your days in prison. You're going to go straight to hell, where you belong."

The goon shifted enough for me to grab his weapon from it's holster on his belt. I fired once into the goon's stomach, pushing him off of me before I sighted a startled Darrington, aiming a gun straight at his chest. The sound of the shot ricochetting off the buildings was a sound I prayed I would never forget. The wild sadistic smile that graced my face remained as Darrington looked down at his bleeding chest, before he stepped forward and fell flat onto his face. I checked his pulse and sighed knowing he was dead. I dragged the goon away from the SUV, making sure he was cleared of weapons before grabbing his cell phone. I ran over to where Darrington had indicated where Blade was hidden and began to dig him out. Finding a boot made me more determined get him out. Once he was clear of broken concrete, boards, chunks of various metal, he was clear. I checked for a pulse and was surprised to find a faint one, fluttering under my fingers. I flipped the phone open and dialed control.

"Rangeman control. Joker speaking, how may I help you?"

"Joker, it's Becca... I mean Haz. I need Ranger, NOW! I'm at the rendesvous point and I was attacked. Blade is barely alive. I need Bobby here ASAP. Call TPD. I killed both Darrington and his goon." I set the phone down onto the ground and began to monitor Blade until I could hear Carlos's voice on the phone. I hit the speakerphone button and yelled at him, "Get here now! It went all to hell. Darrington's dead, one of his goons too. I'm shaken, but Blade is fading fast."

"Becca I'm halfway there."

I shut the phone and murmured into Blade's ear encouragements, telling him to hang on, that the guys were minutes away. I heard a SUV come to a sliding stop as Balde stopped breathing. "He's stopped breathing!" I screamed and began CPR as I heard boot clad feet run in direction. Bobby dropped to his knees and took over breathing for me as strong warm arms wrapped around me, comforting me. I looked up into a pair of the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen and realised they were Evan's eyes. I threw my arms around him and kissed him for all I was worth. My legs wrapped around his waist and I refused to let go. He broke the kiss, leaving us breathing heavily, before Carlos pried my arms off of Evan and hugged me.

I broke down and cried like a little baby in his arms, sobs wracked my body, making me shake from the sheer effort. In the meantime, Rangeman responded in full force, while TPD showed with about a dozen or so officers. A low growl from Evan made me reduce my crying enough to see Ferras watching me. I looked at Carlos with a frightened look on my face and buried my head into his neck, avoiding Ferras's gaze.

"Becca, we had a team covering Darrington's duplex all night. We caught Jackson about fifteen minutes ago. It's over Becca. It's over." He cradled me in his arms before finally handing me over to Evan. Within a few minutes, I had stopped crying and was watching the EMT's loading Blade into the ambulance. It pulled away a few seconds later it pulled away with it's sirens screaming. Ferras waltzed over with his little notebook at the ready to take my statement and I groaned.

"Really, can't we do this tomorrow?" I whined to Carlos who smirked for a fraction of a second before his blank face returned in it's place.

"So, Pumpkin, taking out the bad guys I see." He tried to joke but failed miserably.

"Fuck off Ferras. She'll be in the station in the morning with her attorney. So beat it." Evan growled menacingly.

Ferras looked a little taken back by Evan's words, but in true asshole fashion, he recovered quickly. "Why don't I take you out for a nice quiet dinner and you can relax away from all your _friends._ " He emphasised the word 'friends' with a sneer. He smiled at he with hope in his eyes.

Before Anyone else could open their mouths to say a word, my fist shot out and struck him in the nose. He fell backwards, knocked out cold. I winced and began to jump up and down holding my hand, knowing I had probably just broken my hand. A few TPD officer ran over to see what was going on and Carlos was right on top of things. "The son of a bitch made a pass at my sister."

Big Dog and Eddie shook their heads at me. Eddie ruffled my hair, "You sure have one hell of a right hook there Haz." He smiled and nodded to a rookie who dragged Ferras away. "Don't worry about him," he jerked his thumb at the still unconscious Ferras, "I'll have him on ice for a while. Besides, the Chief has been dying to find a reason to let him go."

Big Dog kissed my forehead and shook Carlos's hand. "We'll see her in the morning. No worries. Plenty of witnesses." He winked before walking away to talk to the coroner.

"You okay, Becca?" Carlos asked, clearly still upset.

"I'm fine. Just shaken, seeing Blade like that was scary." He frowned at me and shook his head.

"No, I mean Darrington."

"He scared me at first, then I got pissed. I got his goon first then I shot him. I'm not sorry and I'm not going to feel bad." I stated, being stubborn.

"No worries, Baby." Evan hugged me close and a small sigh escaped me.

"Best thing yet, we got Jackson before the bond was up." Tank added as he walked up after talking to the coroner. "Nice shooting, by the way." He smiled at me. "Coroner said you got the one guy in the stomach. He's pretty sure it bounced off of his spine and into his lungs. Darrington died instantly, shot in the heart."

"You ready to head back to Haywood?" Carlos asked, ready to leave the scene now that things were in TPD's control.

"Yeah. A hot shower and a pint of Ben & Jerry's sounds heavenly."

After a close call and intense physical therapy, Blade made a full recovery, although he did take a double tap to the chest. Thankfully, both bullets missed his heart and only punctured a lung. Both Manny and Cal recovered fully, but most of the guys still tease Manny about taking it 'in the ass'. Ha ha ha! I know, even a year later I still giggle at that phrase. Evan and I are still together and in a matter of weeks, we will be tying the knot. Surprisingly, Carlos began dating a few months ago. He still hasn't found the right woman yet, but he's enjoying himself.

The payout from both Jackson and Darrington helped pay for the repairs to the basement floor, as well as a pay raise for the men of Rangeman. The morning after 'the incident', as I like to call it, I gave my statment to the Chief, himself. I was undoubtedly sure to include Ferras's conversation and my reaction. I was gently chastised and allowed to leave with John Jameson, Rangeman's attorney. The papers heralded me as a hero, a title I loathe to this day.

To say things have gone back to normal would be an understatement. I was still finding trouble if trouble wasn't finding me. Rangeman managed to capture a violent stalker I had aquired a few weeks after 'the incident'. After an elaborate takedown, we found the stalker to be Evan's ex-girlfriend, Brittany. She was livid that Evan and I were together and decided to try to kill me. Needless to say, it didn't end well for her. She's now awaiting trial for attempted murder of Evan and myself. Ferras, ended up losing his job and to say he was digruntled was an unserstatement. He ended up teaming with Brittany in her stupid stalking scheme and had his fall from grace as well. He turned against Brittany and is going to testify against her for a reduced sentence. Good luck on that one.

So, all in all, my life is like a soap opera. Never boring and never tame. So far, only one other Rangeman has been shot in my presence and honestly it wasn't my fault. Binky was in the firing range waiting for me to finish up so we could go out and pick up our skips. Yeah, I got partnered with Binky. He's so sweet and cute, I can't help but treat him like the little brother I never had. He loves it, both Evan and Carlos think I spoil him too much. Eh, what do they know? Anyway, he turned to go into the Rangemaster's office when my sidearm hangfired. I flicked on the safety and set it onto the shelf gently and backed away ready to call Evan, who is the Rangemaster, when Lester pounded his fist onto the ledge of his lane in disgust for missing a shot into his target's head. That jostled my gun enough to set the round off. It ricochetted off the lane wall and right into Binky's thigh. So, now when any of the guys have to work with me, they request extra pay. They have an affectionate name for it. Hazard pay.

Oh, yeah. I almost forgot, I'm still hanging onto this stupid rebar from the bridge. You're probably wondering what I did to get myself into this situation. I'd like to say first, it wasn't entirely my fault, and secondly, Lester is a stupid asshole mother fucker who's going to get his ass beat from here to eternity. He messed with my GPS system in my brand new car, thinking it would be funny to change it from english to japanese. I make one wrong turn and next thing I know, I'm barreling through some construction baracades at 75 miles per hour and skid to a stop on the edge of a semi-demolished bridge over a river full of boulders and nasty looking sharp rocks.

I slowly reached forward and hit the button on the dashboard to open the back hatch, making sure I had a secondary exit if going out the door wasn't an option. The car teetered back and forth a little, confirming my fear that the car was centered on the edge. Going out the door was not possible now, I'd probably fall to my death. So, going out the back hatch it was my only option. I unbuckled my belt and planted my feet on the floor boards waiting for the car to tip back towards the bridge. Once it felt the car shift in my favor, I made a break for it. I launched myself out of the driver's seat, over the rear seats and through the rear hatch. In the process of me moving the car began to go over the edge. I almost made it onto the bridge before the car slid out from under me and down into the river. The only things I could grab to prevent myself from following it were the stubs of rebar hanging out of the broken concrete. Hanging by one hand, I found my phone and called control to send someone to save me.

So here I was, hanging here like a sad little monkey. A sad, bleeding, pissed off, but tired, little monkey. And Lester, cousin or not, was a dead man. Who knew picking up last minute wedding decor would be so hazardous?


End file.
